Trump predicts Ramaswamy will endorse him

Former President Trump expressed confidence that fellow Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will endorse Trump’s reelection bid following reports Ramaswamy has canceled TV advertising ahead of the first primary contests.

“He will, I am sure, Endorse me. But Vivek is a good man, and is not done yet!” Trump wrote Wednesday on TruthSocial.

“We are focused on bringing out the voters we’ve identified — best way to reach them is using addressable advertising, mail, text, live calls and doors to communicate with our voters on Vivek’s vision for America, making their plan to caucus and turning them out,” Ramaswamy campaign press secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Tuesday statement.

With the exception of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the GOP presidential primary field has steered clear of harsh criticisms of Trump, the Republican front-runner. Ramaswamy, however, has distinguished himself by repeatedly condemning his fellow candidates for insufficiently supporting the former president. 

Although multiple candidates condemned a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court barring Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment, Ramaswamy went further, pledging to remove himself from the Colorado ballot and calling on other candidates to do the same. He has also pledged to pardon Trump on the various federal charges he currently faces if elected.

Ramaswamy’s praise of the former president has fueled speculation that the biotech entrepreneur is eying a spot on a potential Trump ticket as vice president. Ramaswamy on Sunday was skeptical of the prospect of taking a position in a second Trump administration, however, telling Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo, “I didn’t get where I am, [his wife, Apoorva Ramaswamy] didn’t get to where she is by being ‘Plan B people,’ and so I’m actually confident we’re going to overdeliver massively at the Iowa caucus.”

Trump, meanwhile, said in August that Ramaswamy would be “very good” as a running mate, adding, “Anybody that said I’m the best president in a generation … I have to like a guy like that.”

Ramaswamy has struggled to maintain momentum in the Republican primary race after briefly surging in the polls this summer. According to The Hill and Decision Desk HQ’s aggregation of polls, the biotech entrepreneur is polling in fourth at just 3.8 percent support, while Trump maintains a significant lead at 63.1 percent support.

Reached for comment, McLaughlin told The Hill, “Get ready for a major upset on Jan. 15 and good luck to the political consultants who are reliant on traditional ad spending to line their pockets.”

Updated at 12:19 p.m.