When he first entered the 2024 Republican presidential race, Vivek Ramaswamy came out swinging — which is to say he said things so dumb Chris Christie took a break from blasting Donald Trump to drag him instead. He’s not had much luck since then. His fellow candidates sure don’t like him. Heck, his polling is so weak he didn’t even qualify for CNN’s forthcoming GOP debate. Instead he’s decided to pull a Trump and hold a competing event, even though Trump could at least have actually gone.
Forget @CNN’s fake Iowa “debate” on Jan 10 which will be the most boring in modern history. We’re doing a live-audience show that night in Des Moines with @Timcast instead. Won’t hold back. Here’s the backstory on CNN’s shenanigans:
– On Dec 13, CNN disgracefully cut short its…— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 2, 2024
“Forget @CNN’s fake Iowa “debate” on Jan 10 which will be the most boring in modern history,” Ramaswamy tweeted/Xed on Tuesday. “We’re doing a live-audience show that night in Des Moines with @Timcast instead. Won’t hold back.”
Ramaswamy then proceeded to lay out all the ways CNN has been mean to him, including “disgracefully” cutting away from his town hall as he launched into some conspiracy theories (or, as he put it, “uncomfortable truths”) about the Jan. 6 riot. He also didn’t like some CNN commentators who called him out for things like rhetoric that’s “one step away from Nazi propaganda” as well as “damaging to the country.”
When CNN announced they were holding a GOP debate, the only participants allowed on the stage were those who scored at least 10% in “three separate national and/or Iowa polls of Republican caucusgoers or primary voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting.” Here’s how Ramaswamy’s doing, according to The Daily Beast:
According to Real Clear Polling, Ramaswamy has not hit 10 percent in any survey of Iowa GOP voters since October, reaching a high of 8 percent in an Emerson poll last month. Overall, his polling average in the state is 5.9 percent. Furthermore, national polls have Ramaswamy sitting just above 5 percent, with no recent survey showing him in double digits.
Ramaswamy isn’t the only Republican candidate who didn’t make CNN’s cut. Chris Christie will also have to sit this one out. The only ones attending the event will be Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. This town hall is intended for Iowa voters; both Ramaswamy and Christie may qualify for the one they have planned later for New Hampshire. Trump, of course, has been skipping all the debates, including this one, figuring he’s so far ahead of everyone in the polls he doesn’t need to bother.
Ramaswamy’s campaign has struggled of late. They even announced they were no longer buying ads in early primary states, which the candidate tried to spin as a money-saving venture. He’s also vowed to pull his name from ballots that have announced they were banning Donald Trump over that whole insurrection thing.
(Via The Daily Beast)