'Fraud, Vegetarian, Conman': Trump Turns on Indian American Vivek Ramaswamy Ahead of Iowa Caucuses

Former US President Donald Trump and his campaign have labeled fellow GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as a “fraud” and “conman,” warning his supporters against backing the biotech entrepreneur. In a TruthSocial post, Trump accused the Indian American White House hopeful of disguising his support for the former US president through “deceitful campaign tricks.”

Trump urged supporters not to vote for Ramaswamy, claiming it would benefit the “other side.” The shift in approach by Trump, according to The New York Times, suggests a strategic calculation by his campaign, indicating a perception that Ramaswamy, ranking fourth in Iowa polls, may be gaining some support from Trump’s base.

Ramaswamy, a defender of Trump throughout the 2024 presidential run, has criticised other GOP opponents for lacking sufficient support for Trump. But senior Trump campaign advisor Chris LaCivita branded Ramaswamy as the “number one Fraud” of the campaign. “If you are a Republican and in Iowa and support @realDonaldTrump you need to be on the look out for #VAFAKE …but beware …he’s a Vegetarian,” he added.

Since the start of his presidential campaign, Ramaswamy has been a staunch backer of Trump and promised to pardon him if elected. After Colorado’s Supreme Court barred Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment, Ramaswamy pledged to withdraw from the ballot and encouraged other Republican contenders to do the same. Even Trump was all praise for Ramaswamy when he declared him the winner of the fourth GOP debate last month.

Ramaswamy Responds

Ramaswamy responded to the attacks, expressing respect for the former US President and condemning what he sees as a system determined to keep Trump out of the White House. “Yes, I saw President Trump’s Truth Social post. It’s an unfortunate move by his campaign advisors, I don’t think friendly fire is helpful. Donald Trump was the greatest President of the 21st century, and I’m not going to criticize him in response to this late attack,” he wrote on X.

“I’ve met tens of thousands of Iowans across 390+ events here, and they are deeply worried – and so am I – that this system won’t allow Donald J. Trump anywhere near the White House again. It seems they will stop at *nothing* to keep him away from power,” he added. Despite the Indian American’s mellow response to Trump’s criticism, his advisor LaCivita said, “Your diatribe doesn’t do anything to fix your loony pump and dump on MAGA ….the end is near and you can go play more tennis.”

Despite accumulating around 7.6 percent support in Iowa, significantly lower than Trump’s 53.6 percent, Ramaswamy remains steadfast in his “America-First approach.” Trump’s criticism emerges just before the release of the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, the final one before the Iowa Caucuses on Jan. 15.