Ramaswamy Denies Running To Damage DeSantis, But Laments Candidates Who Turn Into ‘Pawns’

CLARION, Iowa — With a wink, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy seemed to suggest Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been turned into the “pawn du jour” by the “managerial class in our politics” during a campaign stop in Iowa on Saturday.

Faced with the suggestion that he is running for president to knock out DeSantis and help former President Donald Trump get elected, Ramaswamy called the idea “preposterous and somewhat laughable.”

Ramaswamy praised DeSantis, telling reporters in Clarion that he exchanged words with the Florida governor during commercial breaks at the first GOP debate and even “congratulated him on some of the points he made on the stage regarding the border.” 

Then Ramaswamy took broader aim at candidates boosted by super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited funds.

“It's not specific to any one individual, but I feel bad sometimes for people who are turned into pawns and instruments, by dens of snakes around them,” Ramaswamy said. “The managerial class in our politics, and in our super PAC-driven culture, and in the donor establishment and the broader establishment of the GOP is very opportunistic. When they see somebody who they view as their latest puppet du jour, pawn du jour — And that's not a slight against the individual who's in that role. It's a slight against a broken and corrupt system.” 

The pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC has pushed the envelope when it comes to how close candidates and PACs can get, hosting DeSantis for a campaign bus tour and publishing a trove of debate preparation memos online earlier this month. (Super PACs are forbidden from coordinating directly with campaigns).

Ramaswamy has his own super PAC support in the form of the American Exceptionalism PAC. He said on Saturday that “there’s no existing relationship” between the PAC and his campaign. He did, however, leave the door open to large donors who want to support him “in any capacity.”

“I love that. I welcome it. We’re gonna need every everyone who's supportive of my message to lift this campaign up,” Ramaswamy said.