New Hampshire’s former secretary of state and other primary experts weigh in on the upcoming contest in which Haley is 13 points behind Trump in the polls.
DES MOINES, Iowa—Little more than half an hour after the Iowa caucuses began, the results thundered in: former President Donald J. Trump had notched a definitive victory.
One rival moved fast and broke up a once-ambitious campaign.
Despite months of strenuous campaigning, Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman, endured a distant fourth-place finish in the Hawkeye State.
Mr. Ramaswamy soon convened a press conference where he made two announcements: he was dropping out, and he was endorsing President Trump.
The very next day, Jan. 16, the entrepreneur and “anti-woke” investor joined President Trump at a rally in the Granite State, where he delivered a characteristically high-energy pitch for the top candidate.
Mr. Ramaswamy barely, if ever, criticized President Trump during his months on the campaign trail, a natural choice as he tried to cultivate a Trump-like aura. He billed himself as the face of “America First 2.0.”
On stage in Atkinson, New Hampshire, President Trump wore a wry smile as Mr. Ramaswamy sang his praises.
“He has a big, beautiful, bright future ahead,” President Trump said of the 38-year-old Mr. Ramaswamy.
With New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary now less than a week away, Mr. Ramaswamy’s moves raise a few questions.
How much of a difference will his departure make in a state that looks relatively friendly to his bitterest debate rival, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley? Will his endorsement move hearts and minds, or is it no big deal?
‘Trump 2.0’
Wayne Steger, a prolific scholar on primaries and a professor of political science at Chicago’s DePaul University, has consistently expressed skepticism about Mr. Ramaswamy’s candidacy.
In June of 2023, he predicted to The Epoch Times that there will be a “near-zero chance that Vivek Ramaswamy gets traction.”
“His departure from the race won’t make much of a difference,” Mr. Steger told The Epoch Times on Jan. 17.
“Most of these votes are going to Trump, which they would anyway, even if he remained in the race. He might have done okay in New Hampshire, but I doubt it,” Mr. Steger said.
“I would anticipate Haley doing better in New Hampshire, [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis worse, and Trump about the same,” he predicted.
