Former President Donald Trump continued his attacks on tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy Monday morning as he tries to build the kind of victory in Iowa that knocks his opponents out of the race.
Ramaswamy modeled his run on Trump’s MAGA message and had been careful to avoid criticizing the former president.
But their informal non-aggression pact collapsed last week, just before Monday’s crucial Iowa caucuses.
“A VOTE FOR VIVEK IS A WASTED VOTE,” Trump said in an all-caps post on his Truth Social platform. I love VIVEK, but he played it too “cute” with us.
“CAUCUS TONIGHT, VOTE FOR DONALD J. TRUMP, BUILD THE NUMBERS!!”
With hours to go before Iowa Republicans choose their 2024 candidate, Donald Trump launched a new attack against rival Vivek Ramaswamy as he implored his supporters to turn out.
Donald Trump has been taking potshots at 2024 Republican rival Vivek Ramaswamy since Saturday when the tech entrepreneur handed out “Save Trump, Vote Vivek” T-shirts
Vivek has been generous in his praise for Trump for months. He sometimes positioned himself as Trump 2.0, using his technical knowledge to push through some policies the former president could not complete.
That changed Saturday when Ramaswamy’s campaign handed out T-shirts with the slogan “Save Trump, Vote Vivek.”
Ramaswamy posted a photo of them after an event in Rock Rapids, Iowa, which immediately drew the ire of Trump and his top aides.
Senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita called Ramaswamy a “fraud.”
He was soon followed by Trump himself, who accused him of “deceitful campaign tricks.”
“A vote for Vivek is a vote for the ‘other side’ – don’t be fooled by that,” Trump said on social media.
‘Vivek is not a MAGA.’
The latest Iowa caucus poll showed Ramaswamy at just eight percent, far behind Trump, who is the top choice of 48 percent of likely caucusgoers.
His campaign sees an opportunity to knock rivals out of the race if he can pull off a historically big victory and relegate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to third place behind Nikki Haley.
Vivek Ramaswamy (center) has claimed he is ‘concerned’ about Donald Trump after the former president accused him of ‘deceptive campaign ploys’ in a surprise attack
The NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll was conducted Jan. 7-12 among a likely 705 Republican caucusgoers. The margin of error is plus-minus 3.7 percentage points
However, insiders have also said they worry that a mix of complacency over Trump’s huge lead and the frigid weather could dent victory.
They have promised not to leave anything to chance.
Against that backdrop, Ramamswamy offered them an easy target with his T-shirts and the chance to claw back a few percentage points from him.
For his part, the 38-year-old political novice fired back on social media after Saturday’s attack.
‘I’m worried about Trump. I worry about our country. “I have resisted the prosecutions against Trump, and I have defended him every step of the way,” he wrote.
In a lengthy statement about X, he wrote: “Yes, I saw President Trump’s Truth Social post. It’s an unfortunate move by his campaign advisers. I don’t think friendly fire will help.
“Donald Trump was the greatest president of the 21st century, and I’m not going to criticize him in response to this late attack.
“I’ve met tens of thousands of Iowans here at more than 390 events, and they are deeply concerned — and so am I — that this ‘system’ will no longer allow Donald J. Trump near the White House.
“It seems they will stop at *nothing* to keep him from power.”
Trump, 77, took to Truth Social on Saturday to deliver a scathing review of his fellow GOP candidate, just 48 hours before the Iowa caucuses
Ramaswamy, who has expressed support for the former president in the past, took to X later that evening to express his shock at Trump’s post
Pointing out that he has always been a supporter of Trump, he said: “I showed up at the Miami courthouse in solidarity after his first federal indictment.
“I filed a FOIA request with the Biden DOJ. I filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court this week, calling on them to overturn Colorado’s ruling.
“I have pledged to remove myself from the primaries in Maine and Colorado if they impeach Trump, and I have called on DeSantis and Haley to do the same.”
Ramaswamy further claimed that billionaires are funding lawsuits against Trump to “support Nikki Haley.”
He added, “They want to reduce this to a two-horse race between Trump and Haley, eliminate Trump (somehow) and trot their puppet into the White House.
‘We cannot fall into that trap. A year from now we won’t look back and say we were shocked that this happened. We’ll kick ourselves for not stopping it.
“I want to save Trump and save this country. Let’s do it together. You won’t hear friendly fire from me.’
Donald Trump – seen here Thursday in a Manhattan courthouse – took to Truth Social to deliver a scathing assessment of GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy
The criticism was sharp and saw the former president snub the only Republican who has expressed support for him in the past
Trump’s comments marked the first time he has spoken ill of it Ramaswamy who has defended him in light of his many criminal cases.
If elected, Ramaswamy has pledged to pardon him “on day one,” and during the first Republican debate he proudly praised the 77-year-old as the “best president in generations.”
But Trump appeared unswayed by the 38-year-old Ohioan’s earlier comments — launching a direct attack as he continues to garner some unexpected support among Republicans in the Iowa polls.
Trump even went so far as to reference August’s praise: “Vivek started his campaign as a huge supporter, ‘the best president in generations,’ etc.”
Ramaswamy has defended Trump in light of his various criminal cases and vowed to pardon him “on day one” if elected. During the first GOP debate, he proudly praised the 77-year-old as the ‘best president in generations’
Trump’s comments came a few days after polls showed Trump remaining ahead in the Iowa surveys but losing some ground to the famously incendiary Ohioan.
“Unfortunately, he now only hides his support in the form of deceptive campaign tricks,” the aspiring two-term commander-in-chief added.
‘Very cunning.’
While he did not specify these alleged misdeeds, Trump went on to claim that Ramaswamy was “fooling” the American public, which he then warned: “Don’t let this fool you,” referring to the entrepreneur’s campaign.
‘Vote for ‘TRUMP’, don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not a MAGA,” the post continued.
“The Biden charges against his political opponent will never be allowed in this country, they are already starting to fall!
‘A vote for Vivek is a vote for the ‘other side’.