BREAKING: Vivek Ramaswamy Drops Out Of The 2024 Presidential Race, Endorses Trump

On Monday evening, Iowans packed into crowded gyms, private homes, and various other venues to participate in the highly anticipated Iowa Caucus, the first 2024 presidential contest of the year. Going into the race, 45th President Donald Trump was the expected favorite, while former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH), and former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) all vying for the vote of Iowans. Ultimately, Trump dominated the competition and defeated his challengers.

Blistering cold temperatures defined the night, reaching negative 9 degrees Fahrenheit while the wind chill dropped to 35 degrees below zero. The race was called incredibly early, with less than a percent of the vote in, and resulted in President Trump being called the winner at approximately 7:33 p.m. CST.

In response to the victory, Trump said that he felt "great" about such an early victory, as reported by Fox News. "I am greatly honored by such an early call." With 94 perent of the vote in, Trump dominated the competition with 51.0 percent of the vote compared to DeSantis' 21.3 percent, Haley's 19.0 percent, and Ramaswamy's 7.7 percent. Trump's lead in the Hawkeye State was so dominant that he won every single county with 93 percent of the vote, even winning more urban counties like Johnson and Story counties.

In response to Trump's stunning victory, Vivek Ramaswamy, who only got a little over 8,000 votes in Iowa, decided to end his campaign during his concession speech. "GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is dropping out of race after low numbers in Iowa caucuses, per sources," Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs wrote on X. "Ramaswamy told staff in a private meeting he will endorse Trump on stage tonight in Iowa, in minutes, sources told me."

"At this moment we are going to suspend our campiagn. There is no path for me," Ramaswamy said. "I am also making the decision that this has to be an America First candidate in the White House...earlier tonight I called Donald Trump to tell him that I congratulated him on his victory and going forward he has my full endorsement for the presidency."

"It really is an honor that, minutes after, they've announced I've won—against very credibly competition—great competition, actually. It is a tremendous thing and a tremendous feeling," Trump explained. "We have to get our country back. Our country has gone through so many bad things over the last three years, and it is continuing to go through bad things."

"I feel really invigorated and strong for our country. We want to Make America Great Again—the greatest slogan ever—and the fact is, that's what we did," he told Fox News. "We're going to quickly do it all again. We are going to fix our border, and we are going to do it quickly."

During his victory speech, Trump thanked former First Lady Melania Trump, his tens of thousands of supporters in Iowa, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (R-IA), and others. Trump also struck a new tone by congratulating Haley, DeSantis, and Ramaswamy for running a solid race and encouraging the Republican Party to unite to win back the country in the general election. 

WATCH:

.@VivekGRamaswamy endorses Donald Trump for president! pic.twitter.com/9XouREup7z

— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) January 16, 2024