Why Has Vivek Ramaswamy Dropped Out Of US Presidential Race?

Indian-origin US politician Vivek Ramaswamy has reportedly taken his name out of the country's upcoming Presidential elections. The Republican former candidate is now allegedly endorsing ex-president Donald Trump for the elections expected on November 5, 2024. Ramaswamy ended his political campaign soon after Trump secured a triumph in the Iowa caucus on January 15, defeating Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley to become the Republican frontrunning candidate for the November polls. Announcing his withdrawal from the Presidential race, Ramaswamy tweeted about his 'American dream'.

I’m a businessman, not a politician. My parents came to this country 40 years ago with no money, and I’ve gone on to found multibillion dollar companies. I did it while getting married to my wife Apoorva and raising our two sons. That’s the American Dream. For a long time, we… pic.twitter.com/4es2ycLFNx

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 15, 2024

The race to become the face of the Republican nomination saw an awkward rivalry between Ramaswamy and Trump over the last few days, ahead of the Iowa caucus. On January 13, Trump took to Twitter to write a sour message against Ramaswamy, urging voters to sideline his 38-year-old competitor, to which Ramaswamy responded.

I’ve defended Trump at every step & respect him immensely. You won’t hear me attacking him. I’m asking for your vote tonight because I believe it’s the right thing for our country. We cannot walk into the other side’s trap & watch the puppet masters quietly trot Nikki into power. pic.twitter.com/E1gM5ydrXW

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 15, 2024

Ramaswamy's Bumpy Political Career

Vivek Ramaswamy entered the race as a Republican candidate in February 2023. He gained popularity for his controversial debates and called himself an "unapologetic American nationalist." The Presidential candidacy has been a rocky road for the Indian-origin biotech entrepreneur while it lasted. 

In early December, he received death threats and ugly insults from a 30-year-old man identified as Tyler Anderson during his campaign event. According to the US Justice Department, Anderson, like every voter in the US received the campaign notification of an upcoming event promoting Ramaswamy's campaign. These campaign notifications prompted him to reply to with two disturbing texts to which Ramaswamy's campaign team was quick enough to act by reporting them to the police department. 

As reported by the US Justice Department, the first text read: "Great, another opportunity for me to blow [the candidate's] brains out!" And the second text read: "I'm going to kill everyone who attends and then f**k their corpses." As per an FBI affidavit, Ramaswamy's campaign quickly acted upon the concerning messages by informing the police and law enforcement enabling a swift process in arresting the accused. 

The accused man is now facing charges of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine that can go up to $250,000 as per the US laws. Ramaswamy expressed his gratitude to the law enforcement agencies for their swift action in arresting the accused and their measures to safeguard Ramaswamy.