WASHINGTON – Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire former biotech executive, ended his White House bid on Jan 16 and endorsed Donald Trump.

His long-shot bid caught attention but failed to catapult him high enough in the Republican Party’s first nominating contest in Iowa.

Mr Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old born in Ohio to immigrant parents from southern India, was one of the surprises of the 2024 Republican race dominated by former president Trump.

A fierce defender of Trump throughout the campaign, Mr Ramaswamy likely secured himself a spot in Republican politics going forward with his youthful demeanour, deep pockets and fast-talking, pugnacious campaigning.

However, Trump turned on him in the final days leading up to the Iowa caucus, calling him a “fraud” and asserting that a vote for Mr Ramaswamy was a vote for the “other side”.

Partial results for the Iowa caucuses showed Mr Ramaswamy coming in fourth with around 7.7 per cent of votes.

Harvard-educated Mr Ramaswamy gained fame in right-wing circles, thanks to his 2021 bestseller Woke, Inc., which decries decisions by some big companies to base business strategy around social justice and climate change concerns.

His combative debate performances and intense focus on media, especially social media, earned him headlines, but also put off some voters, and buzz around him ebbed in the autumn.

By the end of 2023, his national opinion polling numbers with likely Republican primary voters languished in the low single digits.

Mr Ramaswamy’s fellow Republican candidates often appeared irritated with the newcomer in debates, with former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley telling him during one contentious encounter: “Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber.”

However, he gained some support, or at least interest, among libertarian crowds and the tech world. They included Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, whom Mr Ramaswamy confirmed to Reuters had attended a fundraiser for him in the autumn.

Mr Ramaswamy said he was a libertarian while studying but had staked out some deeply conservative policy positions.

On the campaign trail, he opposed affirmative action and supported state-level bans on abortion after six weeks.

He also said he wanted to greatly expand the powers of the presidency and dismantle much of the federal government, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Education.

Mr Ramaswamy was also reflective of a growing isolationist movement in the Republican Party, once made up of staunch foreign policy hawks.

He opposed Nato membership for Ukraine and said Kyiv should make concessions to Moscow to end the war, including allowing Russia to retain parts of Ukraine it occupies. REUTERS