Leading GOP nomination candidate Donald Trump has predicted that businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will end his campaign to become president and back him instead.
Faltering Campaign
The former President’s prediction comes as it was revealed that Ramaswamy’s campaign had stopped spending on TV ads and amid dismal national polling figures.
Certain of Endorsement
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “He will, I am sure, endorse me. But Vivek is a good man, and is not done yet!”
Trump the GOP Frontrunner
Trump is leading the field of GOP nominee hopefuls by a wide margin of around 50 points. He is currently polling at 61.2 percent support among registered Republican voters, according to an average of national polls compiled by the tracking site FiveThirtyEight.
Ramaswamy Polling Numbers
The Indian-heritage presidential contender has largely failed to gain traction in national polling, and is currently at just 3.5 percent, says FiveThirtyEight.
Other GOP Rivals
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had been viewed as a leading challenger to Trump’s dominance in the polls, but his campaign has endured a number of issues and his position dropped as a result to its current 11.7 percent – a fall of around 30 points on his original polling, when his campaign began. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is placed at 11 percent while former New Jersey governor Chris Christie has only 3.4 percent support in the polls.
Ramaswamy $10m Ad Spend
Ramaswamy’s campaign said in November that it would spend more than $10 million on advertising that included broadcast, cable, radio, direct mail and on digital platforms, according to ad tracker AdImpact as reported by NBC News.
Fewer TV Ads
By the beginning of December, the campaign had spent around $200,000 on TV ads but by the end of the month, the spend was down to only $6,000 on TV advertising, NBC News reported.
A Campaign Change
The Ramaswamy campaign said it had not stopped advertising but had changed where it was spending its promotional dollars.
‘Best Ways to Advertise’
A statement from Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said: “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.”
‘Hypertargeted Ad Spending’
McLaughlin added: “As you know, this isn’t what most campaigns look like. We have intentionally structured this way so that we have the ability to be nimble and hypertargeted in our ad spending.”
GOP Primaries
The shift in Ramaswamy’s advertising strategy is just weeks away from the first primaries to decide who will be the GOP choice for the 2024 presidential campaign. Iowa holds its primary on January 15 and New Hampshire on January 23.
Ramaswamy’s Trump Vow
Ramaswamy has promised to pardon Trump if the former President is convicted over four indictments carrying 91 criminal charges if he is elected president – a pledge that some political observers say suggests he may be angling to be Trump’s running mate.
Trump Ramaswamy Ticket?
Following praise of Trump by Ramaswamy last year, the former President said the businessman would be “very good” on his ticket, and that “[a]nybody that said I’m the best president in a generation…I have to like a guy like that.”
Trump’s Legal Woes
Trump, 77, has been indicted for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden and for attempting to block the peaceful transfer of power. He is facing those charges at federal and state level, in Georgia. The property mogul has also been indicted for alleged mishandling of classified documents and for allegedly making hush money payments to a former adult film actress and covering them up.
Trump Denials
Trump has denied all the charges against him and claims they amount to a “political witch hunt” by Democratic operatives who want to try stop him from returning to the White House.
Trump Business Risk
The former president is currently on trial in New York City, where a judge has found that his Trump Organization committed years of fraud by inflating the value of its properties to get cheap loans and insurance. Prosecutors have asked for a fine of around $250 million, and the judge has revoked some of Trump’s licenses to do business in New York, putting his business empire in jeopardy.
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