iNDICA NEWS BUREAU–
A day after his thumping win in the Iowa caucuses, former President Donald Trump held a rally in Atkinson, New Hampshire on Tuesday with fellow GOP leader Vivek Ramaswamy and thanked the Indian American biotech executive for endorsing him. While Trump solidified his position as Republican presidential candidate in his bid to return to the White House, Ramaswamy pulled out of the race on Monday night after finishing a distant fourth in Iowa.
READ: Indian American community reacts to Vivek Ramaswamy dropping out of presidential race
Soon after dropping out, Ramaswamy endorsed Trump and urged Republican voters to put an “America First patriot” in the White House.
Ramaswamy repeated his endorsement at the Atkinson rally stating that there is not a “better choice” than Trump and urged people to do the “right thing”. “There is not a better choice left in this race than this man right here,” Ramaswamy said, pointing to Trump. “And that is why I am asking you to do the right thing as New Hampshire and to vote for Donald Trump as your next president.”
The former President thanked Ramaswamy for his endorsement and said that the Indian American leader will be working with him for a ‘long time’. “It’s an honor to have his endorsement. He’s gonna be working with us and he’ll be working with us for a long time. Thank you,” Trump said.
Trump and Ramaswamy have been praising each other throughout the campaign. Trump has lauded Ramaswamy’s campaign and even signalled that he would be open to having him as his running mate, stating that “He would be very good…”.
Ramaswamy is one of Trump’s staunchest defenders against the four indictments levelled against him. He has dubbed him as the “greatest President” of the 21st century and even vowed to pardon Trump from all charges, on his first day in office.
The only hiccup came earlier this week, when Trump suddenly attacked Ramaswamy calling his campaign “deceitful” and urging his supporters not to “waste” their vote on him.
However, Ramaswamy still said he won’t criticize the former President and reiterated his earlier stance that Trump indeed is the “greatest President” of the 21st century.
The GOP race shifts to New Hampshire, where the primary is set for January 23.
In the Iowa caucuses, Trump won 20 out of the 40 delegates from Iowa with 56,250 votes, a difference of around 32,840 votes from the next-placed Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida.
DeSantis gathered eight delegates and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley finished not much behind with seven delegates.
Trump’s win at Iowa showed the hold he maintains over the party as well as its supporters, as he closed in for a 2020 rematch contest with incumbent Joe Biden, despite being levelled against multiple indictments and legal hassles.