Vivek Ramaswamy Pledges Himself Out of Colorado’s Republican Primary Ballot in Solidarity With Trump

Vivek Ramaswamy has endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump in the wake of the historic decision rendered by the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday. According to Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits anybody involved in "insurrection or rebellion" from holding federal office, the Colorado Supreme Court decided that Trump is ineligible to run for office in the state. Following the monumental decision, presidential contender Ramaswamy expressed his support for Trump by declaring to withdraw from the Republican primary ballot in Colorado. Ramaswamy pledged to abstain from the ballot until Trump's eligibility is reinstated. He urged Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Chris Christie—Trump's rivals in the GOP primary of 2024—to make the same commitment.

“I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same immediately – or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country,” Ramaswamy said in a video statement posted on X. The presidential hopeful exclusively told ABC News, that while it would undoubtedly be simpler to prevail without the front-runner in the contest, he finds the Colorado Supreme Court's decision against the outgoing president to be "appalling for the future of our country." 

“And to tell you the truth, it would be a lot easier for me to get elected if Trump wasn't in this race, but that's not – it's not about me, and it's not about another candidate,” the Republican said, after his campaign event in Garner, Iowa. “This is wrong. And I think that this is a flagrant violation of the rule of law.”

When questioned later about how his decision to withdraw from the race would impact his chances of winning the nomination, Ramaswamy said he expected all other Republican contenders to do the same. “I think every Republican will end up withdrawing, which means that that won't affect anyone's path to the nomination,” he said. 

In response, the Colorado Republican Party posted on X that Ramaswamy would not have to drop out of the race as, should the ruling hold up, they would be switching from a state-run primary to a party-run caucus. The Republican National Committee, which has already given its approval to the state party's nomination strategy, is likely to amend its rules in response to the political maneuver. “We would seek a waiver and probably get it,” the Colorado Republican Party’s Chairman, Dave Williams stated. As per Reuters, similar cases have been dismissed by courts in Michigan, New Hampshire, and Florida for procedural and jurisdictional reasons; some of these opinions have said that courts are not empowered to arbitrarily remove candidates from the voting box.