US Presidential Elections of 2024: According to his spokeswoman, who was cited by the news agency AFP, Vivek Ramaswamy confirmed his Republican candidature following a lacklustre showing in Iowa.
The 38-year-old Ramaswamy supported former President Donald Trump, his opponent. Even as he attempted to persuade Republican voters to choose Trump in order to “take our America First agenda to the next level” and give the candidate “fresh legs,” he has previously referred to Trump as the “best president of the 21st century.”
The affluent political outsider also took inspiration from Trump’s campaign, portraying himself as a headline-grabbing, quick-witted populist who would not back down from a challenge.
In the first Republican presidential contest of 2024, held in Iowa on Monday, Donald Trump triumphed handily, demonstrating his control over the party in spite of a long list of legal issues as he looks to face Democratic President Joe Biden again, according to Reuters.
“THANK YOU IOWA, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!” Trump sent a message on Truth Social, his social media network.
In November, as the former US president attempted to win back the White House, Ramaswamy also supported Trump.
“I looked in all directions, and I believe it’s true that we weren’t able to pull off the surprise we had planned for tonight… We are going to pause this presidential campaign as of right now. I have no chance of being the next president,” declared Ramaswamy, as cited by PTI.
There are two America First candidates running in this election, as I have stated from the first. Additionally, earlier tonight, I gave Donald Trump a call to congratulate him on his win and let him know that going ahead, you will have my full endorsement for the presidency,” he added.
As they compete to become the leading Trump rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in well behind in second place, according to Edison Research, beating out former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
According to Edison, after nearly 90% of the predicted votes were counted, Trump had 50.9%, DeSantis was at 21.4%, and Haley was at 19.0%. Bob Dole’s 12.8 percentage point victory margin in the 1988 Iowa Republican caucus was the greatest ever.
According to Reuters, it was too soon to determine whether Trump would surpass 50%, a psychological threshold that would bolster his opponents’ claims that his ascent to the nomination might be thwarted.
To persuade supporters and donors that their challenges to Trump are still credible, DeSantis and Haley had each set their sights on a solid second-place result.
Trump has aimed to create an air of inevitability around his campaign, skipping all five of the Republican debates thus far and largely eschewing the county-by-county politicking that most candidates do ahead of the Iowa vote.