Politics

Vivek Ramaswamy Stops Broadcast Ads Ahead Of Key Early State Primaries

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Conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign is stopping television advertising just weeks ahead of the January Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

Ramaswamy argued that such spending “is idiotic” and that his campaign would be allocating its resources in a different way when confirming the move on X Tuesday evening. The change comes after his campaign previously pledged to spend up to $8 million in Iowa and $4 million in New Hampshire on advertising.

“Presidential TV ad spending is idiotic, low-ROI & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ,” Ramaswamy wrote on X. “We’re doing it differently. Spending $$ in a way that follows data…apparently a crazy idea in US politics.”

“Big surprise coming on Jan 15,” Ramaswamy added, nodding to the Iowa caucus date.

Ramaswamy had been lagging far behind his GOP opponents in current and future ad spending, with only just over $100,000 booked, according to data compiled by AdImpact in early December. The candidate’s total ad support and future reservations came to $7.9 million on Dec. 22, compared to former President Donald Trump’s $45.4 million, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ $45.7 million and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s $50 million.

Presidential TV ad spending is idiotic, low-ROI & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ.

We’re doing it differently. Spending $$ in a way that follows data…apparently a crazy idea in US politics.

Big surprise coming on Jan 15. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/i2X7Q5d2T9

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 27, 2023

The campaign spent just over $200,000 on TV ads during the first week in December, and only $6,000 last week, according to NBC News, who first reported the shift in resources, citing AdImpact’s numbers. However, Ramaswamy will still be spending on other non-TV ads.

“Our spending levels haven’t changed—we’re just following the data. 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,” Tricia McLaughlin, Ramaswamy’s campaign spokeswoman, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“As you know, this isn’t what most campaigns look like. We have intentionally structured this way so that we have ability to be nimble and hyper targeted in our ad spending,” McLaughlin added.

The RealClearPolitics average for a 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between Dec. 4 and Dec. 21, indicates Ramaswamy has only 4% support in fourth place. The candidate is also in fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire.

His campaign maintains that he will out-perform expectations in both key early states.