Ramaswamy: ‘Sinister forces at play’ if Haley doesn’t drop out of presidential race: ‘That gets ugly’

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that former ambassador Nikki Haley should drop out of the presidential race and suggested she has “sinister” motives if she doesn’t.

“I think that if she stays in this race, it will continue to reveal that there are some sinister forces at work here,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital on Tuesday afternoon as New Hampshire residents were casting their votes in the first in the nation GOP primary.

“There’s no path for her to defeat Donald Trump through the front door, which means what they’re actually rooting for is eliminating him from competition and then it becomes no mystery that the very people propping up Nikki Haley are the very people who are also paying for the lawsuits to keep Donald J. Trump off the ballot and the lawsuits against him.”

Ramaswamy said that it was a “dark turn” to see LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who he called “George Soros Jr.”,  donate to Haley and also financially support lawsuits against former President Trump.

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Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“That gets ugly,” Ramaswamy said. “And I think this could really take an ugly turn in the way that this reveals the corruption of the Republican Party itself if Nikki Haley continues to stay in this race.”

Ramaswamy continued, “I think the positive thing to do for the country would be for this primary to end tonight, as I believe it should. For all intents and purposes, it is already done as of tonight. But as she continues this, I think it reveals what’s actually at work, which is a far more sinister force in American politics that I don’t think we should be tolerating.”

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Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley holds a rally in Greer, South Carolina, United States on May 4, 2023. ((Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images))

Ramaswamy likened Haley to former Vice-President Dick Cheney’s version of conservatism and said it’s time to “relegate” that “neoconservatism” to “the dustbin of history where it belongs.”

“I think the people of this country and the people of our GOP primary base have spoken loud and clear,” Ramaswamy added. “Donald Trump will be the nominee and will be the next president. But more importantly, it’s about how we revive those ideals in this country. And so, yes, I do believe it’s time for us to not only reunite this party, but dare I say, reunite this country. And I’m confident we can.”

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Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a caucus site at Horizon Events Center, in Clive, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Haley ended up finishing second to Trump in New Hampshire hours later and she struck a defiant tone in her post-election speech.

“Now you’ve all heard the chatter among the political class,” Haley said. “They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them, New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over.”

Campaign manager Betsy Ankney told reporters on Saturday that Haley will hold a large event in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday, the same day that the campaign will launch a $4 million statewide ad blitz.

“We’re going to South Carolina, we have put in the ad buy. We’re there,” Haley emphasized on Tuesday. “This has always been a marathon. It’s never been a sprint. We wanted to be strong in Iowa. We want to be stronger than that in New Hampshire. We’re gonna be even stronger than that in South Carolina. We’re running the tape.”

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Ramaswamy has been rumored to be a potential VP candidate for Trump or perhaps a candidate to join his administration. He told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he is “not closing anything off” but he doesn’t have “specific pre-baked agenda.”

“I care about realizing the purpose for this country that I set out to achieve in my presidential run,” Ramaswamy said. “The people of this country said now is not the moment for me but now is still the moment for me as it is for all of us to use our gifts to do what’s right for the country and I can promise you that whatever we do it will be with the country’s best interests in mind and whatever path that is whatever God’s plan is, we’re going to follow that and do what’s right for this country and that much I can tell you with confidence.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report