Washington DC [US], January 14 : In a sharp twist in the US presidential campaign, former President Donald Trump launched an attack on party candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, calling his campaign "deceitful" and urging his supporters not to "waste" their vote on him.
He said that the Indian-American leader is not 'MAGA' (Make America Great Again) and a vote for him is a vote for the "other side".
"Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, "the best President in generations," etc. Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks. Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the "other side" don't get duped by this," Trump posted on Truth Social.
"Vote for "TRUMP," don't waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA. The Biden Indictments against his Political Opponent will never be allowed in this Country, they are already beginning to fall! MAGA!!!" he added.
Notably, this marks a sharp reversal in the way Trump was speaking about Vivek Ramaswamy throughout the campaign.
However, in response to this, Ramaswamy said he won't be criticising the former President and reiterated his earlier stance that Trump indeed is the "greatest President" of the 21st century.
"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," Ramaswamy posted on X.
He further highlighted that he has always stood up against the persecutions of Trump and even pledged to remove himself from Maine and Colorado ballots where the former President has been barred from contesting.
"I'm worried for Trump. I'm worried for our country. I've stood up against the persecutions against Trump, and I've defended him at every step. I showed up at the Miami courthouse in solidarity following his first federal indictment. I filed a FOIA demand to the Biden DOJ. I submitted an amicus brief this week with the US Supreme Court calling on them to overturn Colorado's ruling. I pledged to remove myself from Maine's and Colorado's primary ballots if they remove Trump, calling on DeSantis and Haley to do the same," Ramaswamy added.
https://x.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1746360780436427244?s=20
Earlier, Trump heaped praise on the Ramaswamy and even signalled that he would be open to having him as his running mate, stating that "He would be very good...".
The former President even said that Indian-American leaderwas the winner of the fourth GOP debate in his opinion because "he thinks I'm great".
Throughout his campaign, 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. He even vowed to pardon Trump from all charges, on his first day in office.
The Indian American entrepreneur had shot up sharply in GOP primary polls, but now stands at the fourth position trailing behind former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, who has an unassailable lead over his rivals.
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