'Open Your Eyes': Vivek Ramaswamy Responds to Donald Trump's Attacks Ahead of Iowa Caucus

Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy responded to a late-night attack on him by former President Donald Trump ahead of the Iowa Caucus, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Ramaswamy drew criticism from Trump supporters after he shared a photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, of himself with supporters wearing shirts that said "Save Trump, Vote Vivek." A top Trump advisor criticized the businessman turned GOP candidate for his post, calling him a "fraud."

Trump also took aim at Ramaswamy, for one of the first times in the race so far, calling his 38-year-old opponent "deceitful," "sly" and "not MAGA."

"Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, 'the best President in generations,' etc. Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks. Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the 'other side' — don’t get duped by this," Trump shared to his 6.5 million followers. "Vote for 'TRUMP,' don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA. The [Joe] Biden Indictments against his Political Opponent will never be allowed in this Country, they are already beginning to fall! MAGA!!!"

Ramaswamy took to X to respond to Trump's criticism of him, writing, "I respect the hell out of Trump. He’s the best President of the 21st century."

"I’ve defended him at every step against the unjust persecutions. I filed a Supreme Court brief this week laying out the winning legal arguments to overrule Colorado’s disastrous ruling. I’ve filed FOIA demands against the Biden administration," he continued. "I went to Miami to rally outside the courthouse against Joe Biden and Merrick Garland’s unjust federal indictment of Trump. "I’ve called on every Republican to remove themselves from the ballots of Maine & Colorado if they remove Trump."

"But OPEN YOUR EYES to the hard TRUTH: this system will stop at nothing to keep this man away from the White House," Ramaswamy concluded. "Just because it’s wrong doesn’t mean it won’t happen & we owe it to our nation to take America-First forward."

Several of the comments under Ramaswamy's post call for the GOP candidate to drop out of the race, pointing out that all he's doing is "taking votes away" from Trump.

Former National Security Advisor for Trump, Mike Flynn, commented, "If you feel so strongly about this, why don’t you step down and join the trump campaign to help him win? You’re simply not the guy this time around."

Another user wrote, "They’re certainly doing their damndest to stop Trump. But your previous message didn’t land. Trump doesn’t need a savior ... We need a leader who will take down the Deep State. We need Trump. You know this, and I’m sure you’ll endorse him when the time is right."

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According to Real Clear Politics, Ramaswamy is polling fourth place nationally at 4.1% of likely Republican voters. This puts him over 55 points behind Trump, who leads the pack at 51.1% of the GOP voter base.