Vivek Ramaswamy dropping out of presidential race to endorse Donald Trump, campaign says

Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the presidential race as votes were being tallied Monday night, throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump, who ended the night with a historic 51% of the vote.

"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 12,363 votes.

Ramaswamy said he would support Trump, who moves on to New Hampshire to battle Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who captured second place in Iowa with 21% of the vote, and Haley, who earned 19% of the caucus vote.

Ramaswamy made his final pitch to voters during stops at two Iowa Caucus precincts in Clive Monday night. Ramaswamy, 38, told supporters at the Horizon Events Center in Clive that he is living the American Dream. His parents came to the U.S. from India with no money, Ramaswamy said. Now he’s founded companies worth billions of dollars, has a wife and two sons and is living the American Dream, Ramaswamy 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,” Ramaswamy said.

Ramaswamy held the most events in Iowa, which he did by far — 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.

An Ohio native, Ramaswamy built a fortune by starting biotechnology company Roivant Sciences in 2014. Ramaswamy 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 the Horizon Events Center after former President Donald 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.”

Ramaswamy closed his speech by asking caucusgoers for their votes.

“We won’t stop until we get this job done,” Ramaswamy said. “We will revive this country. May our best days still yet be ahead of us. May we make our founding fathers proud.”

Along the way 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.

So far his approach has not translated into large support in the polls. In the latest Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, released on Saturday, 8% of likely Republican caucusgoers say Ramaswamy is their first choice for president, leaving him well behind former President Donald 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.

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

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.

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 "DJT" as in Donald J. Trump, Ramaswamy asked Voss to change his mind.

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. 

If elected, Ramaswamy pledged to secure the southern and northern borders of the U.S. 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.