Vivek Ramaswamy quits GOP race. Here's how transphobic he was on the campaign trail

Vivek Ramaswamy, the outrageous and hugely transphobic entrepreneur who sought the Republican presidential nomination, suspended his campaign Monday night after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses.

“I will stick to the truth tonight,” he told supporters in Des Moines, according to CNN. “The first hard truth, and this was hard for me, I gotta admit this, but we’ve looked at it every which way. And I think it is true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight.”

With 95 percent of the vote counted, Ramaswamy had 7.7 percent and only three delegates, by The New York Times’ count. Donald Trump won the caucus with 51 percent of the vote and 20 delegates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished second with 21.3 percent and eight delegates, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley third with 19.1 percent and seven delegates.

Ramaswamy immediately endorsed Trump. “Earlier tonight, I called Donald Trump to tell him that I congratulate him on his victory,” Ramaswamy said. “And now going forward, he will have my full endorsement for the presidency.” He said he would appear with Trump at a rally in New Hampshire Tuesday; that state will hold its primary election January 23.

Ramaswamy’s campaign was marked by his many anti-LGBTQ+ and specifically anti-transgender statements. Among his “greatest hits”:

Appearing on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News in May, he said, “Here’s my deal with this LGBTQIA+, especially the trans cult. Dress how you want, behave how you want as an adult, live your life freely, but leave our kids alone and do not demand that we change our language or the way we live our lives. We can all live peaceably that way.”

On Meet the Press in the spring, he told host Chuck Todd that he rejected the idea of gender as a spectrum and said, “Below the age of 18, I think it's perfectly legitimate to say that we won't allow genital mutilation or chemical castration through puberty blockers.”

In August at the Iowa State Fair, an activist approached him and asked his opinion of the LGBTQ+ community. He said the community is “an alphabet soup” that has created “a tyranny of the minority,” further asserting that “trans is fundamentally in tension with gay.”

In September at the second Republican debate, he said, “Transgenderism, especially in kids, is a mental health disorder. … It is not compassionate to affirm a akid’s confusion. That is not compassion, that is cruelty.” He added, “I will ban genital mutilation or chemical castration.”

At the fourth Republican debate, held in December, he repeated these talking points, saying, “I think the north star here is transgenderism is a mental health disorder.” He proposed making 21 the minimum age nationwide for “genital mutilation” or “chemical castration.”

During his campaign appearances, Ramaswamy repeated many right-wing conspiracy theories, including debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump; that the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was an “inside job”; and that climate change is not real.