Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has suspended television campaign ad spending just before primary voting actually begins, though he claims to still be in the race.
After peaking at around 8 percent in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls in late September, he’s fallen since, losing about half of that support and averaging around 4 percent most recently, prompting some — including former President Donald Trump — to speculate about his next move.
He even told Politico on Wednesday that he had a “legitimate shot at winning the Iowa caucus,” a claim that seems difficult to justify, given that he’s doing little better in Iowa — around 5.9 percent — which is less than half former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s 16.1 percent, less than a third of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 18.6 percent, and less than a ninth of Trump’s 51.3 percent.
Ramaswamy explained the end of his TV ad spending by saying that television advertising is “for chumps,” despite the fact that his campaign has spent millions on it until recently.
“Mostly everybody who’s advertising on TV right now is probably wasting their money,” Ramaswamy told Politico. “And ourselves, we were included in that category. … It’s basically the most expensive [method] with least measurable results.”
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And while there may be some who are buying that reasoning, the former president doesn’t seem to be one of them.
Trump, along with much of the rest of the world, seems to believe that Ramaswamy’s move is an indication that he has seen the writing on the wall and will soon end his campaign.
“He will, I am sure, Endorse me,” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social.
Should Ramaswamy endorse Trump for president?
“But,” he added, “Vivek is a good man, and is not done yet!”
For his part, that seems to be what Ramaswamy would like you to believe, as well.
He told Politico that his campaign would focus more on digital advertising, direct mail and door-to-door canvasing in the run-up to the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, rather than spend additional fund on television.
“The dynamics of the race have mostly been unrelated in recent months to the expenditure of television ads,” Ramaswamy said, explaining that other campaigns have poured money into television with little effect on their polling numbers.
He also said he planned to endorse Trump, as expected, if and when he did officially pull out of the race.
Trump will have “my full endorsement” at that time, he told Politico, “just as I’d expect the same from him.”
Some have speculated that Ramaswamy is angling for a shot at being Trump’s running mate, though it is widely believed that Trump will choose a woman as his vice presidential nominee.
However, KATU noted that Trump said in August that Ramaswamy would make a good vice president.
“He’s a young guy. He’s got a lot of talent. He’s a very, very, very intelligent person,” he said then. “I tell ya, I think he’d be very good. I think he’s really distinguished himself.”
