So to sum up his argument, "because someone is suffering the consequences of breaking the law, I voluntarily won't run for office." Ok, you do you, bud.
Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign also stopped all TV ad spending with less than a month to go before Iowa and New Hampshire. So yeah, this is the only way he can get any attention right now before he drops out in February and tries to become a right wing media personality.
Is that supposed to be a consequence people take seriously?
Tell me you want to lose an election without telling me. Clearly you're only in it to make the number of people trump beat higher. Actively does not want to win.
I don't see any drawback to it. Why not make a bigger protest and withdraw from all 50 states? It's not like he needs them, since he is running for VP.
Ramaswamy challenged Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie to follow his lead and takem themselves off the Maine ballot.
This is what an actual threat to democracy looks like. The system is hellbent on taking this man out, the Constitution be damned. I stand by my prior pledge to withdraw from any state’s ballot that ultimately removes Trump from its ballot. I call on DeSantis, Christie, and… — Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 29, 2023
Ramaswamy made a similar dive for the spotlight after Colorado's Supreme Court ruled Trump's actions leading up to his supporters' bloody rampage through the Capitol on January 6 had rendered him ineligible for the presidency under the 14th Amendment. Ramaswamy's electoral self-immolation is currently on hold, since the vanquished president got back on the Rocky Mountain state's ballot pending a final determination by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a bid to remove Trump from the swing state's ballot.
This is like when McCain in 2008, losing in the polls and running out of money, "paused his campaign to focus on the financial crisis." Pull back from spending money to "make a statement" and hope people see it as taking a principled stand and reward you for it.