Vivek Ramaswamy completes double tour of every Iowa county

BETTENDORF, Iowa – Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy celebrated holding at least two events in each of Iowa’s 99 counties Tuesday night, adding a flourish to a campaign strategy that relies on a breakneck pace of electoral campaign to move single-digit figures in the polls.

The countywide tour, dubbed “Full Grassley” after Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, has become a campaign staple in the caucus state. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also visited every county in the state, but Ramaswamy completed the loop twice with the Jan. 15 caucuses just weeks away.

Ramaswamy also received an endorsement at the town hall from former Rep. Steve King, who delivered his endorsement via video message.

“The strongest person we have to defend the constitution and the destiny of America is Vivek Ramaswamy,” King said, smiling into a projector to make the announcement.

King, a controversial figure who lost his seat to a Republican rival in the 2020 primary amid widespread backlash for making racist comments, found common cause with Ramaswamy over the outcry over the possible use of eminent domain to build capture pipelines. of carbon on private lands in Iowa.

once king told the New York Times, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization: how did that language become offensive?” He also earned condemnation from members of his own party for comments he once made about whether humans would exist if it weren’t for babies born as a result of rape and incest.

Ramaswamy he tweeted early Tuesday. that he had a “major endorsement tonight that will make the MSM lose their minds,” and added a winking emoji.

Ramaswamy and King first stepped out together in early December. The Republican candidate typically makes up to 10 campaign stops a day in the Hawkeye State in his bid for his party’s nomination, making him the busiest candidate in the race.

But Ramaswamy has remained stagnant in terms of Republican support, according to most polls. In December’s NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll, Ramaswamy had 5% support among likely Republican caucusgoers, behind former President Donald Trump, DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.

Still, Ramaswamy believes he will crack the top three come caucus day.

“We don’t need to win the Iowa caucuses to have a complete and clear path to the end, but I think [the goal] is to significantly exceed the expectations that have been set for us, as I hope we will,” Ramaswamy said after a campaign stop in Dubuque Tuesday afternoon.