Vivek Ramaswamy quits campaign after dismal Iowa caucuses results and makes endorsement
Des Moines, Iowa - Vivek Ramaswamy, the conspiracy-loving biotech bigwig who made an impression on the 2024 GOP presidential primary with bombastic debate performances, dropped out of the race after Monday's Iowa caucuses.
The move comes after the outsider candidate failed to register in double digits, falling under 8% in a disappointing showing.
Ramaswamy had pinned his hopes on the state and pledged to pull an enormous upset.
"I will stick to the truth tonight," he told supporters in Des Moines. "The first hard truth and this was hard for me, I've got to admit this, but we’ve looked at it every which way. And I think it is true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight."
"As of this moment we are going to suspend this presidential campaign. There’s no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country."
Donald Trump dominated in Iowa, pulling in over half the vote on a freezing winter evening. He also got Ramaswamy's endorsement.
"I congratulated him on his victory and now going forward he will have my full endorsement for the presidency," the 38-yea-old said.
Ramaswamy has consistently expressed his admiration for Trump and abstained from ever directly criticizing the ex-president.
Cover photo: Kevin Dietsch / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP