Ramaswamy drops out of presidential race, endorses Trump

Vivek Ramaswamy at a campaign stop in Oskaloosa. This was one of many whistle-stop visits the presidential candidate was doing around Iowa during December of 2023.

by Ashley Murray, Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 15, 2024

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the 2024 Republican presidential contest Monday night after falling short of his campaign’s expectations in the Iowa caucuses.

Ramaswamy pledged to support front-runner and former President Donald Trump, who finished the nation’s first nominating contest of the election cycle with historic margins.

“We’ve looked at it every which way, and I think it is true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight,” Ramaswamy said just before 10:30 p.m. Central.

Just after he spoke, the Iowa Republican Party results showed Ramaswamy had gained 7.7%  of the vote with 78% of precincts reporting.

“Earlier tonight I called Donald Trump to tell him that I congratulated him on his victory and now going forward, he will have my full endorsement for the presidency. And I think we’re going to do the right thing for this country,” Ramaswamy said.

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