Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said Monday that he is suspending his 2024 Republican presidential campaign after a disappointing finish in Iowa's leadoff caucuses.
Ramaswamy, 38, endorsed his rival, former President Donald Trump. He has previously called Trump the “best president of the 21st century” even as he tried to convince Republican voters that they should opt for “fresh legs” and “take our America First agenda to the next level.”
The wealthy political outsider also modeled his own bid on Trump's run, campaigning as a fast-talking, headline-grabbing populist who relentlessly needled opponents.
Former President Trump scored a record-setting win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, a victory that sent a resounding message that the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination is his to lose.
Trump was on track to set a record for a contested Iowa Republican caucus with a margin of victory exceeding the nearly 13 percentage points that Bob Dole won by in 1988. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished a distant second ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
In what was expected to be a low-turnout affair, caucusgoers endured life-threatening cold and dangerous driving conditions to meet in hundreds of schools, churches and community centers across the state.
Haley plans to compete vigorously in New Hampshire, where she hopes to be more successful with the state’s independent voters heading into the Jan. 23 primary. DeSantis, meanwhile, is heading straight to South Carolina, a conservative stronghold where the Feb. 24 contest could prove pivotal.
Iowa has been an uneven predictor of who will ultimately lead Republicans into the general election. George W. Bush’s 2000 victory was the last time a Republican candidate won in Iowa and went on to become the party’s standard-bearer.
But Trump was already looking ahead to a potential general election matchup against President Joe Biden as he addressed hundreds of cheering supporters at a caucus site at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, Iowa.