Trump says vote for Ramaswamy would be wasted

Former President Trump is attacking GOP challenger Vivek Ramaswamy ahead of the start of the Iowa caucuses on Monday, saying votes for the entrepreneur would be wasted.

Ramaswamy has largely avoided the former president’s attacks until the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, but Trump and his campaign have changed the tune in recent days. In an all-capitalized Truth Social post on Monday, the former president urged Iowa voters to caucus for him instead of Ramaswamy.

“A VOTE FOR VIVEK IS A WASTED VOTE. I LIKE VIVEK, BUT HE PLAYED IT TOO ‘CUTE’ WITH US,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“CAUCUS TONIGHT, VOTE FOR DONALD J. TRUMP, BUILD UP THE NUMBERS!!! IN NOVEMBER, WE MUST TAKE OUR VERY TROUBLED NATION — A NATION IN DECLINE — BACK FROM CROOKED JOE BIDEN AND THE RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS AND THUGS WHO ARE DESTROYING IT. MAGA!!!” Trump added.

Ramaswamy has rarely gone on the offensive against Trump and repeatedly defended the former president throughout his campaign. The entrepreneur has also vowed to remove himself from Colorado’s ballot after the state’s Supreme Court booted Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment last month.

Trump labeled Ramaswamy as “not MAGA” and a “fraud” in a previous social media post on Friday.

“Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, ‘the best President in generations,’ etc,” Trump said in a Friday post. “Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks. Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the ‘other side’ — don’t get duped by this.”

Ramaswamy responded to this initial attack on X, formerly Twitter, by emphasizing his support for Trump in the past and saying that he will not trade attacks with the former president. Ramaswamy added that he has “stood up against the persecutions against Trump” and “defended him at every step.”

“Yes, I saw President Trump’s Truth Social post. It’s an unfortunate move by his campaign advisors, I don’t think friendly fire is helpful. Donald Trump was the greatest President of the 21st century, and I’m not going to criticize him in response to this late attack,” Ramaswamy wrote.

GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis also weighed in on Trump’s targeting of Ramaswamy, telling reporters that Trump threw Ramaswamy “under the bus.”

“You know, it’s like, I’ve never seen a candidate run for an office and basically campaign for another candidate in the same race before and that’s what’s happened. But the minute he wasn’t useful, they, they dropped the hammer on it. So that’s just kind of the way — way they are,” DeSantis said in a video clip shared by CNN’s Kit Maher on X, speaking of Trump’s criticism of Ramaswamy.

The Hill has reached out to Ramaswamy’s campaign for comment on Trump’s latest remarks.