The Iowa caucuses were held yesterday and serial sex abuser Donald Trump (SSAT) won easily as expected, getting roughly half the votes (51%) and half the delegates (20). Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley split the remaining votes (21% and 19%) and delegates (9 and 8) respectively. After the results were announced , Vivek Ramaswamy (who got 7.7% and 3 delegates) and Asa Hutchinson announced that they were suspending their candidacies.
I wish we could say that we have seen the last of Ramaswamy whose personality is even more grating than DeSantis, and that is saying something. But I think he is going to be around for a long while. He will likely be a fixture on right wing media as an all-purpose provocateur, a role that he would clearly relish since he seems to love being in the media spotlight
He has also endorsed SSAT, no doubt hoping that if SSAT wins in November, he will be awarded some post by him. That alone should be enough to vote against SSAT.
Trump “will have my full endorsement for the presidency,” Ramaswamy told a crowd of his supporters at a Des Moines hotel, adding: “And I think we’re going to do the right thing for this country. And so I’m going to ask you to follow me in taking our America First movement to the next level.” Ramaswamy suggested Haley and DeSantis “follow suit” and teased his likely appearance with Trump on Tuesday in New Hampshire. In his victory speech, the former president praised the Ohioan, saying Ramaswamy did a “helluva job,” despite having attacked him in a Truth Social post Monday morning.
Politics experts mocked Ramaswamy and Trump’s other Republican opponents for their political strategies. “Turns out ignoring the frontrunner and his countless vulnerabilities is not, in fact, a winning strategy,” longtime Republican strategist Brendan Buck wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The GOP ad gurus who spent tens of millions on ads that did everything except critique Trump covering themselves in glory tonight,” added Tim Miller, a political consultant and MSNBC analyst. “They had no choice! If they criticized Trump they would’ve gotten slaughtered, they say! Congrats on the biggest blowout loss in caucus history.”
Ramaswamy had been groveling before SSAT all along but in the last week, he adopted the odd tactic of suggesting to Iowa voters that they should vote for him if they liked SSAT, thus trying to have it both ways. This drew the ire of SSAT who blasted him as a fake supporter. Now that Ramaswamy has endorsed SSAT, they are bosom buddies again, showing that for this crew, expediency is all that matters, consistency be damned.
Ramaswamy reminds me of Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello, a treacherous and unprincipled [person who will fawn before their perceived superior while at the same time plotting against them for personal advantage I would not trust him an inch.
Sez Wikipedia:
“Ramaswamy is a monotheistic Hindu.[20] According to relatives, he is fluent in Tamil[139][140] and understands (but does not speak) Malayalam.[140] He is a vegetarian[26][70] and wrote in 2020, “I believe it is wrong to kill sentient animals for culinary pleasure”.[141]”
(Diversity!)
“… the former president praised the Ohioan, saying Ramaswamy did a “helluva job,””
I’m surprised Trump didn’t call him ‘Brownie’.
It’ll be fine in the end. The guy is doing the single worst move possible in our current political environment: he’s fawning over Trump and assuming that Trump will show him some loyalty in return. Even if he gets some reward for sucking up, it’ll be fleeting. If nothing else, Trump will tire of him getting the spotlight for saying stupid things. That’s too much in Trump’s wheelhouse for him to ignore for very long.
lanir @3: First, I really don’t think Trump has any better pick for running-mate (among other candidates at least); Ramaslimy is the most eager suck-up and fellow con-artist, and has absolutely zero alternative paths toward fame, relevance or power — he can’t achieve squat on his own and everyone knows it. Whatever reward Trump gives him for sucking up, fleeting or not, will be all he can hope for. He may not have much to gain by hitching his shitwagon to Trump, but he has NOTHING AT ALL to gain by doing anything else. As I’ve said elsewhere, don’t count him out yet.
I wouldn’t count him out… but is he enough of a lickspittle?
Anyone even thinking of running for VP to Trump surely has to have three words ringing in their ears already…. “HANG MIKE PENCE”. That’s what you’re signing up for. It’ll be fascinating to see who takes that job.
Ramaslimy has nothing to worry about there — he’d never go against Trump on any issue, big or small.
@Raging Bee: I don’t disagree with anything you mentioned. I guess I’m wondering if he’ll manage to still be relevant in a couple months. Trump isn’t so much a “What have you done for me lately?” person as he is a “What are you doing for me RIGHT NOW?!?” person. I’m not sure how much he values someone fawning all over him either. He didn’t seem to value Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, or Chris Christie last time around. Although maybe Ramaswamy will come across as more genuine than those career politicians did?
Always difficult to guess where a bunch of lying scumbags will agree the truth lies. Will they believe each other’s lies? Will they believe their own lies? Will they correctly call it all a wash and make a pick at random? Who among us with a shred of decency could ever guess?
Wow, some people are blind to reality.
Again from Wikipedia: “Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati to Indian immigrant parents. He graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in biology and later earned a law degree from Yale Law School. Ramaswamy worked as an investment partner at a hedge fund before founding Roivant Sciences. He also co-founded an investment firm, Strive Asset Management. ”
Also, “In January 2024, Forbes estimated Ramaswamy’s net worth at more than $960 million; his wealth comes from biotech and financial businesses.”
No achievement there, nosiree.
With wealth comes power; can’t be bothered to look it up, but there’s a quotation to the effect that it’s not so surprising politicians can be bought, but what’s surprising is how cheap they are.
John: Ramaslimy’s major “achievement” was a pump-and-dump scam. As a “businessman,” he’s an obvious con-man (I notice you talk about how much money he has, not what he’s actually done or what his business have actually produced), and as a politician, he’s just as obviously parroting whatever blither-points he thinks GQP voters want to hear, and has no sort of vision or agenda to put all of it together. Also, he’s done zero work in any public or political office, which means no policy or political accomplishments to brag about and no base of support separate from anyone else. Which means he’ll need to hitch his pathetic little shit-wagon to someone bigger and more relevant than himself if he wants to go anywhere; and he’ll be unable to stand on his own ever after; which makes him a reliable obedient suck-up of a running-mate for someone like Trump.
So I think I can stand by my previous comment here.
What, I’m supposed to go and research his life and his businesses?
Look, I get it.
You don’t like his politics, so surely “he can’t achieve squat on his own and everyone knows it” in your mind. Now, if getting various academic achievements and becoming exceedingly wealthy due to one’s business practices is not achieving squat in your estimation, well then.
Perhaps another approach, then.
Turns out that I, for one, don’t know that. Which falsifies your claim (you do get that, no?).
“Reasoning will never make a Man correct an ill Opinion, which by Reasoning he never acquired”
John, since you’re the only person here (so far at least) who’s so blatantly misunderstood my point, I’ll just conclude it’s your problem, and leave you to it.
Heh. I understood your intended point perfectly well, RB. It lacks merit, and you don’t want to admit that.