GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has suspended his television advertising in New Hampshire and Iowa, Mediate reported. This comes as both states will hold their primaries in the coming weeks.
The information comes through a company that tracks advertisements as well as Ramaswamy's campaign. In early December, the 38-year-old businessman spent $200,000 on television spots.
However, that number dropped to just $6,000 for television commercials in recent days. The primaries kick off with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15 and then the New Hampshire race on Jan. 23.
The campaign said it is now reaching prospective voters through other channels. "We are focused on bringing out the voters we’ve identified — best way to reach them is using addressable advertising, mail, text, live calls and doors to communicate with our voters on Vivek’s vision for America, making their plan to caucus and turning them out," campaign press secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
"As you know, this isn’t what most campaigns look like. We have intentionally structured this way so that we have the ability to be nimble and hyper targeted in our ad spending," Laughlin added.
The Republican primary field has winnowed down to just a handful, including Ramaswamy. Unfortunately for him, it's been his conduct in the GOP debates that has all but sealed his fate as a losing candidate.
During the Dec. 6 debate, Ramaswamy went after Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina, in a way that many found distasteful. He came off as aggressive and meanspirited during a crucial performance.
While trying to paint Haley as another politician who benefited from corporate cronyism following her time as U.S. ambassador, Ramaswamy took a decidedly harsh approach. It did nothing to further his intended goal of turning Republicans against Haley.
"I don’t have a woman problem. You have a corruption problem, and I think that that's what people need to know," Ramaswamy said, according to Fox News.
"Nikki is corrupt," he added. As he delivered that line, Ramaswamy held up a notepad that said, "Nikki=Corrupt."
"This is a woman who will send your kids to die so she can buy a bigger house," Ramaswamy charged. The moment was championed by some, but his critics excoriated Ramaswamy for such a stunt.
He was booed by the audience at the debate, which Ramaswamy insisted meant that they were shills for Haley. Now, the most recent Rasmusen Reports poll shows Ramaswamy in dead last with just 1% of the vote.
Moreover, former President Donald Trump has remained untouchable even for his closest competitor. In the survey conducted Dec. 19 through Dec. 21, Trump leads the pack with 51% while Haley has just 13%. Others like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Christ Christie sit tied at 9%.
