Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised his fellow Republican Vivek Ramaswamy after the latter dropped out of the US presidential race in 2024, saying he did a “hell of a job”.
The development came after Trump scripted a landslide victory in the Iowa caucuses, confirming his status as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination to challenge Democrat Joe Biden in the November election.
The 77-year-old Republican won the Iowa caucuses by registering 51 per cent of the votes with Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida securing a critical but distant second-place finish in the contest that took place amidst blistering cold.
Iowa is the first of the state-by-state contests where Republican Party voters pick their candidate for the November 5 presidential election in the United States.
Trump Wins Iowa Caucuses
Trump’s victory was the largest margin in the history of Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses, easily surpassing the previous winning margin of 12.8 per cent set in 1988 by the late Senator Bob Dole.
With about 94 per cent of the results that have been recorded, CNN reported that Trump will receive 20 of Iowa’s 40 delegates. DeSantis is estimated to get eight delegates, Haley to get seven delegates and Vivek Ramaswamy will receive two delegates. There are 3 delegates unallocated.
There are a total of 2,429 delegates up for grabs in the Republican primary season. A candidate needs the backing of at least 1,215 delegates to win the nomination.
Thanking “the great people of Iowa”, Trump said “it would be so nice if we could come together and straighten up the problems of the world”. “It’s going to happen soon,” he said, amidst cheers from his supporters.
Trump Praises Ramaswamy
Trump also sought to patch things up with Ramaswamy and said, “He did a hell of a job. He came from zero, and he has a big per cent.”
Out of the total votes, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in second with 21.2 per cent of the votes polled, as against 51 per cent by Trump. Indian-American former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley came a close third with 19.1 per cent of the votes polled.
Meanwhile, 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign following his poor showing in the Iowa Caucus and announced his endorsement of its winner Trump. Ramaswamy was a distant fourth with 7.7 per cent of the votes polled.
“I looked at every which way, and I think it’s true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight… As of this moment, we are going to suspend this presidential campaign. There is no path for me to be the next president,” Ramaswamy said in the Iowa as the results of the Republican presidential caucus came in.
The Iowa Caucus formally kicked off the 2024 race to the White House. Former President Trump won the Iowa Caucus, consolidating his place to bag the party’s nomination for the November presidential elections to challenge incumbent Joe Biden.
(With inputs from PTI)
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