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The 38-year-old, who has never held elective office, was self-funding his campaign.
Indian-American Republican entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday announced he would be pulling out of the 2024 presidential race and will endorse former president Donald Trump, whose landslide victory in the Iowa caucus re-established him as the Republican frontrunner.
The Iowa’s caucuses, the first vote in the US presidential race, is a major election test for candidates. The biotech entrepreneur failed to make a mark as he trailed behind the twice-impeached former president as well as his rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
According to new network CNN, after 96 per cent of results were out, Ramaswamy was projected to win only three out of 40 delegates in Iowa. “We did not achieve the surprise we wanted to deliver tonight,” he said at press conference.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ramaswamy said while he “did not achieve our goal tonight”, he will do everything to make sure Trump is the next US president.
“This entire campaign is about speaking the TRUTH. We did not achieve our goal tonight, & we need an America-First patriot in the White House. The people spoke loud & clear about who they want. Tonight I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Donald J. Trump and will do everything I can to make sure he is the next U.S. President.”
After his announcement, the 38-year-old, who has never held elective office and was self-funding his campaign, told a crowd, “There is no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country.”
Throughout his campaign, Ramaswamy had been one of Trump’s staunchest defenders and even vowed to pardon Trump, of all charges he had been indicted with, on his first day in office.
He appeared alongside the former president at his rally in New Hampshire as the two shook hands and waved to crowds. “Not going to hold back, now through the finish line,” Ramaswamy said in a post on X, sharing a video of the two on stage.
While initially his campaign stated that they were still “digesting” the Iowa results, the entrepreneur took to social media to reassure his supporters that this was not the “end of the road”.
“Don’t despair, this isn’t the end of the road. It’s the beginning of a new one. We have a country to save & we will do it together,” he wrote in another post.
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