What the end of Vivek Ramaswamy’s grim campaign tells us about the GOP

Vivek Ramaswamy has suspended his campaign for president following a predictably unimpressive showing in Iowa and an equally predictable endorsement for former President Donald Trump. Thus concludes what was at turns the most bizarre, the most impressive and most irritating presidential campaign of the 2024 season.

Ramaswamy’s chief accomplishment during his campaign was becoming famous. Prior to his White House bid, Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive, was starting to make waves as a self-proclaimed expert on so-called “woke” ideology with a book and appearances on Fox News. But his presidential campaign elevated his profile dramatically. Using a say-yes-to-everybody media strategy, Ramaswamy swiftly became a high-profile MAGA warrior by sparring with reporters and pundits across the political spectrum and constantly going viral online with inflammatory soundbites. Considering he was not widely known prior to 2023 and has no electoral experience, his high point of third place in national primary polls last summer was remarkable. However, the way he got there says a lot about the alarming state of the Republican Party.

It was unclear whether Ramaswamy was running for president or for a Cabinet position in a future Trump administration.

Ramaswamy’s strategy as a candidate was to out-Trump Donald Trump. He embraced an ideology that was MAGA on steroids, and whether discussing policy or politics, everything he said served as a provocative stunt to generate even more media attention. When discussing his vision for his presidency, he promised to launch military strikes against Mexico, abolish the Department of Education and dismantle the entire taxation system. When discussing his plans to address climate change, he insisted that it was imperative to “drill, frack, burn coal.” And naturally, he spent a lot of time railing against “wokeism,” the subject of his book.

Ramaswamy also shares with Trump a penchant for public nastiness. During the debates (which Trump skipped), Ramaswamy aggressively inserted himself into the center of every contest by relentlessly cutting off and attacking his opponents, to the point that their resentment of him was genuinely palpable. At one point, the usually measured former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called him “scum” after he mentioned her daughter. While Ramswamy’s debate performances gave him a small initial bump, they failed to help him build enduring appeal with the Republican electorate. Part of the reason is that going entirely negative in debates is a risky strategy that can alienate voters. But another reason it didn’t lead anywhere is Ramaswamy’s entire schtick is designed to appeal to voters who are already locked in on Trump.

It was unclear whether Ramaswamy was running for president or for a Cabinet position in a future Trump administration. He was easily the most fawning pro-Trump sycophant in the race — which is saying a lot given almost the entire Republican field’s reluctance to criticize the former president. Ramaswamy called a man he was running against the “best president of the 21st century” and constantly praised what he called Trump’s accomplishments. He characterized the criminal trials against Trump as “unconstitutional and disgusting.” He promised to pardon Trump and some Jan. 6 defendants. His homages to Trump were so over the top that he earned praise from Trump himself.

The sign that Ramaswamy wasn’t in it to win it came when he announced that he was withdrawing his name from the ballots in Colorado and Maine after officials in those states ruled that Trump was ineligible to appear on their ballots — and he called on other candidates to do the same. In what world would someone who wants to win a contest voluntarily concede one of their only advantages against the front-runner?

Ramaswamy didn’t run against Trump in the primaries as much as he ran alongside him, seemingly angling for a spot in Trump’s orbit and showcasing what the next generation of MAGA White House hopefuls might look like. He painted an ugly picture. Ramaswamy is intelligent and energetic, but the way he got himself on the American right’s radar was by turbocharging the anti-social, bullying, pandering and authoritarian energy of his role model. Like Trump, his policy vision was inextricable from his media strategy, and marked by what could be called a trollification of politics. It’s unclear what his future holds for him, but his playbook is a dangerous one for America.