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ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa — Vivek Ramaswamy — who frequently heaps praise on former President Donald Trump — took a few chances to ding him on Wednesday, the day after Trump predicted Ramaswamy’s campaign will end and the 38-year-old businessman will eventually endorse him.
At a crammed Pizza Ranch in Rock Rapids, Iowa, one person asked Ramaswamy how he would “not make the same mistakes that Trump did,” adding that Trump faulted in who he hired in his administration.
“I can tell you point blank, Nikki Haley will not be in my administration,” said Ramaswamy, referring to her time as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. “I can tell you that point blank.”
Amid stagnating single-digit poll numbers in Iowa, Ramaswamy has started devoting a significant portion of his stump speeches to addressing concerns about efforts to build underground carbon dioxide pipelines through Iowa, potentially through the use of eminent domain.
Ramaswamy often criticizes other Republican presidential candidates generally, as well as Iowa’s Gov. Kim Reynolds for remaining silent on the topic. But he rarely aims his firepower directly at Trump.
On Wednesday, he did.
“I don’t know where he is on this carbon capture pipeline,” said Ramaswamy of Trump’s supposedly muted stance on the pipeline plans. “There’s certain issues where I certainly go further than Trump.”
Ramaswamy’s small jabs at Trump came after the 45th president suggested Ramaswamy’s campaign would come to an end.
Reacting to the development that Ramaswamy’s campaign is stopping all TV ad spending less than a month before Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump posted “He will, I am sure, Endorse me,” seeming to predict the demise of Ramaswamy’s campaign.
“But Vivek is a good man, and is not done yet!”
Despite Ramaswamy’s new distinctions between himself and Trump, his barbs are still swaddled with compliments and affection.
“I love President Trump,” said Ramaswamy to a crowd of about 40 Iowans gathered to hear him speak in Sheldon, IA.
