DES MOINES, Iowa — Former businessman Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign Monday night after coming in fourth at the Iowa caucuses.

Ramaswamy had been polling nationally with an average of 4% and 6.8% in Iowa but ultimately failed to pick up momentum during caucus night. Ramaswamy announced to a full room of voters that he was suspending his campaign and that he was endorsing Trump as the 2024 GOP nominee.

“As of this movement we are going to suspend this presidential campaign,” Vivek told the crowd. “There is no path forward for me to be president absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country.”

 

Ramaswamy went on to announce that in light of his decision to end his campaign, he would be endorsing Trump for the Republican nomination moving forward.

“Tonight I called Donald Trump to … congratulate him on his victory and now moving forward he will have my full endorsement for the presidency and I think we are doing the right thing for this country,” Ramaswamy said. “So I am going to ask you to follow me in taking our America First movement to the next level.”

 

The decision comes just days after Trump went after Ramaswamy, saying he is “not MAGA” and that his campaign has been “deceitful,” according to a post on Truth Social.

“Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, ‘the best President in generations,’ etc. Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks,” Trump wrote.

The next GOP primary will be in New Hampshire on Jan. 23, 2024.

Kate Anderson on January 15, 2024