Ramaswamy Suspends Presidential Campaign, Endorses Donald Trump After Finishing Fourth in Iowa

Former President Donald Trump quickly emerged as the winner of Monday night’s Republican caucuses in Iowa, while entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign after finishing fourth in the state.

At 8:31pm Monday night, the Associated Press (AP) declared former President Trump as the winner of the caucuses, determining that he had an “insurmountable lead” after receiving more than half of the votes cast across eight of Iowa’s ninety-nine counties.

According to the AP, these eight counties were “demographically and politically similar to a large number of counties” that had not yet reported their results.

As votes came in throughout the night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley battled it out for second place. Shortly after 11pm with around just 10 percents of ballots outstanding, the AP declared Gov. DeSantis as having finished a “distant second” in the race.

[RELATED: Trump Wins Iowa Caucus, DeSantis Edges Out Narrow 2nd Place Finish Over Haley]

Shortly before 11:30pm, Ramaswamy announced in a speech to his supporters that he would be suspending his presidential campaign after failing to “achieve the surprise [they] wanted to deliver.”

“As of this moment we are going to suspend this presidential campaign,” Ramaswamy said. “There is no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country.”

Ramaswamy also declared during this speech that Trump would have has “full endorsement” going forward in the campaign.

“There has to be an America First candidate in that White House,” Ramaswamy said. “As I’ve said since the beginning, there are two America first candidates in this race. And 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.”

GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has dropped out of the presidential race following the Iowa Caucus and put his full endorsement behind Trump. pic.twitter.com/jdgvHr7TFe

— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) January 16, 2024

Ramaswamy also declared the suspension of his campaign and endorsement of Trump with a post on X.

“This entire campaign is about speaking the TRUTH,” Ramaswamy wrote. “We did not achieve our goal tonight & we need an America-First patriot in the White House.”

“The people spoke loud & clear about who they want. Tonight I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Donald J. Trump and will do everything I can to make sure he is the next U.S. President,” Ramaswamy announced.

“I am enormously proud of this team, this movement, and our country,” he concluded.

This entire campaign is about speaking the TRUTH. We did not achieve our goal tonight & we need an America-First patriot in the White House. The people spoke loud & clear about who they want. Tonight I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Donald J. Trump and will do everything…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 16, 2024

Shortly after the AP called the race, the former president took to Truth Social to address the victory.

“THANK YOU IOWA, I LOVE YOU ALL!!! DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote in a post.

Trump then also published a post thanking Ramaswamy for his endorsement, calling it “a Great Honor” to receive his support.

Ramaswamy’s endorsement of Trump shortly after the former president posted to Truth Social blasting the then-candidate for engaging in “deceitful campaign tricks” and stating that he is “not MAGA.”

“Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks,” Trump wrote. “Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the ‘other side’ — don’t get duped by this.”

“Vote for ‘TRUMP,’ don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA”,” the post concluded.

[RELATED: “Not MAGA”: Donald Trump Bashes Vivek Ramaswamy Ahead of Iowa Caucus for “Deceitful Campaign Tricks”]

Ramaswamy responded on X to the former president’s posts, referring to them as “an unfortunate move by his campaign advisors.”

“Yes, I saw President Trump’s Truth Social post,” Ramaswamy said. “It’s an unfortunate move by his campaign advisors, I don’t think friendly fire is helpful.”

“Donald Trump was the greatest President of the 21st century, and I’m not going to criticize him in response to this late attack,” the then-candidate wrote.

At the conclusion of his lengthy post describing how he “stood up against the persecutions against Trump” and “defended him at every step,” Ramaswamy said that he “want[s] to save Trump & to save this country.”

“Let’s do it together,” he wrote. “You won’t hear any friendly fire from me.”

Yes, I saw President Trump’s Truth Social post. It’s an unfortunate move by his campaign advisors, I don’t think friendly fire is helpful. Donald Trump was the greatest President of the 21st century, and I’m not going to criticize him in response to this late attack.

I’ve met…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 14, 2024

According to the latest polling averages compiled by 538, Trump leads the pack of candidates with 63.1 percent support, while Haley and DeSantis remain in a virtual stalemate at 11.9 percent and 11.6 percent support respectively.

Trump won Iowa in a landslide with 51 percent of the vote. DeSantis received 21.2 percent, and Haley ended the night with 19.1 percent.

Ramaswamy trailed behind the top three contenders with 7.7 percent support, while the other candidates up for consideration — including Ryan Binkley, Asa Hutchinson, and Chris Christie — each received less than one percent of the vote.

Maine is scheduled to hold its presidential primary election on Super Tuesday, which this year falls on March 5, 2024.