(BrightPress.org) – Pharmaceutical entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has officially suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump after the Iowa caucuses failed to yield a dramatic mandate for his candidacy. Ramaswamy hosted a press conference on Monday evening as the caucus results were finalized.
He received 7.7% of the vote in the final count, admitting to a large room of supporters that they didn’t get the surprise result they were hoping for, despite his campaign’s best efforts. Ramaswamy acknowledged that there was “no path” for him to achieve the presidency without a strong showing in Iowa.
Ramaswamy added that he was “very worried” for the United States going forward, and suggested the current political situation had the nation “skating on thin ice.” He suggested that the next president has to be “America First” and as such he had to endorse Trump.
Ramaswamy told the crowd that he called Trump to congratulate him on the victory, and asked his supporters to shift their support to Trump going forward.
Trump was projected to win shortly after the official results began to come in. He ended up receiving 51% of the vote. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second with 21%, Nikki Haley followed him closely with 19% and Ramaswamy came in fourth.
Make America Great Again Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer issued a statement suggesting Iowans sent “a clear message” supporting Donald Trump’s candidacy for the Republican nomination. Pfeiffer added that money spent during the primary is better spent battling Joe Biden.
Biden’s campaign had recently announced massive fourth-quarter donations and a campaign war chest of over $110 million, of which they’ve spent very little thus far.
Ramaswamy is the only candidate dropping out after the Iowa results. NJ Gov. Chris Christie surprised voters when he dropped out just a few days before the Iowa primary. Christie was largely an anti-Trump candidate whose presence would have detracted from Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis.
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