Vivek Ramaswamy suspends presidential campaign, endorses Donald Trump

Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the presidential race as votes were being tallied Monday night, throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump.

"There's no path for me to be the next president, absent things we don't want to see happen in this country," he said in announcing that he was suspending his campaign after coming in fourth place in the Iowa Caucuses.

As he announced he was ending his bid, Ramaswamy had 8,093 votes, or 8%, in the Republican caucuses. He would end the night with 8,449 votes, trailing third-place finisher and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley by more than 12,000 votes, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by nearly 15,000, and Trump by more than 47,800 votes, the state Republican party reported.

Ramaswamy said the next president must be an "America First" president and said he would throw his support behind Trump.

Ramaswamy's Iowa co-chair, Matt Schultz, echoed the candidate's promise to continue fighting for his platform. Schultz said that the campaign discussed the results Monday before Ramaswamy and his wife made the decision to drop out. "I support him 100% in his decision," Schultz said.

"I think it's just the beginning" for Ramaswamy, the former Iowa Secretary of State and current Madison County prosecutor said.

Ramaswamy pledged to continue fighting to trim the federal bureaucracy and accomplish the other goals he stated.

"We’re going to do our part now going forward to make sure America First lives on, to make sure Donald Trump is successful as the next president of the United States," Ramaswamy said. "I’m not going to be changing what I say to any tune other than the one that’s best for this country."

No path for another 'America First' candidate

Ramaswamy positioned himself as an "America first" candidate in the mold of Trump. On Jan. 2, Ramaswamy said the movement was "bigger than one man." Still, Ramaswamy struggled to separate himself from Trump. Many of his supporters interviewed by the Register at events throughout the campaign said they liked Ramaswamy, but they liked Trump more.

Ramaswamy held the most events in Iowa: 323 scheduled public events, according to the Des Moines Register's Candidate Tracker. His campaign says he visited every one of Iowa's 99 counties at least twice and visited many counties three or more times. He's found curious crowds but few die-hard supporters.

Ramaswamy, 38, told supporters during a campaign stop in Clive on Monday that his parents came to the U.S. from India with no money, he said. Now he’s founded companies worth billions of dollars, has a wife and two sons and is living the American Dream, he said.

Ramaswamy said he was the “youngest person ever to run for president as a Republican" and wants to see that dream available for his children.

“I am worried that the American Dream isn’t going to exist for our two sons and their generation unless we all step up and actually do something about it,” he said.

An Ohio native, Ramaswamy built a fortune with biotechnology company Roivant Sciences in 2014. He broke onto the national stage with his 2021 book "Woke, Inc.," which describes capitalism as an invisible force in politics.

2024 Iowa Caucuses:Results by precinct

Ramaswamy pinned the hopes of his campaign on Iowa, moving his headquarters from his home in Ohio to Des Moines and telling Iowans that his "only chance" was to win Iowa. Another variant of his pitch: "If I win Iowa, I'm your next president."

Ramaswamy spoke at caucus site Horizon Events Center in Clive after Trump addressed the room. Trump got a standing ovation from the crowd. Ramaswamy said he respects Trump, but that it takes someone “whose best days in life are still yet ahead to see a country whose best days are ahead of itself.”

Liked by supporters, but not as much as Trump

While campaigning in Iowa, Ramaswamy attracted a small but passionate group of followers enthralled by his polished speeches and relating to his message that the country is in decline. "Truth" became the overriding motto of Ramaswamy's campaign, insisting that he told voters unpopular but true things, while at the same time injecting conspiracy theories.

His approach did not translate into large support in the polls as Caucus Day neared. In the caucus cycle's final Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, released on Saturday, 8% of likely Republican caucusgoers said Ramaswamy was their first choice for president, leaving him well behind Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. That was up 3 percentage points from a December Iowa Poll. He had registered 4% in October and August Iowa Polls.

Charles Voss, 72, caucused at the Horizon Events Center. Before the caucus started, Ramaswamy asked him who he would vote for. When Voss told him Trump, Ramaswamy asked Voss to change his mind.

More:How the Iowa Caucuses work, who can caucus and where to caucus

Voss said that he liked interacting with Ramaswamy in person but that he would still vote for Trump.

"I like him, but I think he and Trump could be pretty compatible, pretty strong allies," Voss said. "I was just telling him, I respect him, I appreciate what he's doing, but I'm pretty solidly Trump."

Across the street from the Horizon Events Center, two precincts caucused at Eternity Church, one from Clive and West Des Moines. About 250 people were there. Ramaswamy said that in the U.S., the government is accountable to the people. 

Ramaswamy had pledged to secure the southern and northern borders of the U.S. if elected. He also pledged to fire “75% of all federal bureaucrats." Ramaswamy also pledged for Election Day to become a federal holiday and for elections only to be conducted with paper ballots and for English to be the only language to appear on an election ballot.

“That’s common sense,” Ramaswamy said. “These aren’t Black ideas or white ideas. They shouldn’t be Democrat ideals or Republican ideals. These are American ideals that we fought a revolution in 1776 to secure.” 

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.