(LifeSiteNews) —Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of running for the GOP presidential nomination and endorsed President Donald Trump after winning just 7.7% of the vote last night during the Iowa caucus.
Trump took 51% of the vote. Governor Ron DeSantis won 21% and Ambassador Nikki Haley won 19%.
Ramaswamy’s endorsement surprised few, given that he was essentially running as a younger version of Donald Trump. He shared the president’s views on foreign policy and used similar “Drain the Swamp” type language, including a promise to fire 75% of the federal workforce if elected. He also used “America First 2.0” as a campaign slogan.
“There is no path for me to be the next president, absent things that we don’t want to see in this country,” Ramaswamy said, likely in allusion to the multiple attempts to convict Trump of crimes as well as legal efforts by liberal activists that seek to remove the former president from the ballot.
“This has to be an America First candidate in that White House,” Ramaswamy said. The entrepreneur said he was one of the only two “America First” candidates in the race and shared last night that he had called Trump and said he would endorse him.
He reportedly plans to travel to New Hampshire ahead of the primary next Tuesday to campaign for Trump.
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…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 16, 2024
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Ramaswamy generally held socially conservative positions, though he refused to endorse any federal abortion protections, in that way aligned with his rival, Ambassador Haley.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews:
While the candidate has described himself as “unapologetically pro-life,” and he believes Dobbs v. Jackson “overturned Roe correctly on the grounds of the constitution,” Ramaswamy said recently that he doesn’t believe abortion is constitutionally a federal issue.
“More unborn babies will die in the next 30 years if we federalize this issue,” declared Ramaswamy, predicting that the next time Democrats control the White House and legislature, they would then reinstate Roe v. Wade on the grounds that abortion is a federal issue.
“That’s a loss for the pro-life movement,” said Ramaswamy, who said that the other Republican presidential candidates favor a federal ban on abortion at some level.
Despite his opposition to a federal ban on abortion “on principles,” Ramaswamy said he would support a federal ban on the mutilation of gender-confused children.
“So my view is that people, especially kids, when they say their gender doesn’t match their biological sex, that means they’re suffering from a condition, and the compassionate thing to do is not to affirm that confusion,” he has previously said.
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