A day after the Iowa caucuses result, former President Donald Trump, who registered a big win, held a rally in Atkinson, New Hampshire on Tuesday (local time) with fellow GOP leader Vivek Ramaswamy and thanked the Indian-American leader for endorsing him.
Notably, while Trump solidified his position as Republican presidential candidate in his bid to return to the White House, Ramaswamy pulled out of the race after finishing a distant fourth in Iowa.
After dropping out of the race on Monday (local time), Ramaswamy had straightaway endorsed Trump and urged Republican voters to put an “America First patriot” in the White House.
On similar lines, Ramaswamy again endorsed Trump at the Atkinson rally stating that there is not a “better choice” than him and urged people to do the “right thing”.
“There is not a better choice left in this race than this man right here. 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,” Ramaswamy said in his address.
The former President also 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.
Notably, 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, has been 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 criticice the former President and reiterated his earlier stance that Trump indeed is the “greatest President” of the 21st century.
Meanwhile, the GOP race will now shift 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 whopping difference of around 32,840 votes.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came a distant second with 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.