距离爱荷华州党团会议仅剩两天，前总统唐纳德·特朗普已经开始批评共和党总统候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米因为两人在竞选过程中似乎一直保持着友好的关系。

“维韦克以一个伟大的支持者、“几代人中最好的总统”等身份开始了他的竞选。不幸的是，现在他所做的只是以欺骗性的竞选伎俩来掩饰他的支持，”特朗普周六在他的社交媒体平台Truth Social上写道。

这一批评标志着特朗普和他的团队首次对拉马斯瓦米进行直接、公开的攻击。

它源于拉马斯瓦米的竞选团队正在分发的衬衫，上面写着“拯救特朗普，投Vivek一票”。Ramaswamy在周六爱荷华州Rock Rapids的活动结束后发布了一张照片，照片上有一群年轻男子穿着这些衣服，这引起了这位前总统的注意。

“非常狡猾，但投票给维韦克就是投票给‘另一方’——不要被这个骗了。投票给‘川普’，不要浪费你的选票!Vivek不是MAGA，”特朗普补充道。

特朗普高级竞选顾问克里斯·拉西维塔(Chris LaCivita)甚至更进一步，称这一说法是“欺诈”。

他在X上写道:“这是这场竞选头号欺诈的绝佳照片，”他引用了拉马斯瓦米发布的一张照片，照片上的支持者穿着这些衬衫。

“特朗普不需要‘拯救’，拉西维塔补充道。

Vivek Ramaswamy，奋斗资产管理公司的董事长和联合创始人，2024年共和党总统候选人，在阿拉巴马州塔斯卡卢萨由NewsNation主办的共和党总统初选辩论中...显示更多undefined

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特朗普的帖子发布后，拉马斯瓦米再次称赞特朗普，称他尊重“特朗普的地狱”，他是“21世纪最好的总统”。但他加倍强调，特朗普的政治敌人旨在将共和党领域缩小为特朗普和哈利之间的“两匹马的比赛”，他们最终将把他从这场比赛中“淘汰”。

拉马斯瓦米继续说道:“睁开你的眼睛，看看严酷的事实:这个系统会不择手段让这个人远离白宫。”

拉马斯瓦米周六晚上在X(原名Twitter)上发表了一条延伸评论，他在评论中重申了对特朗普的尊重，并将这位前总统的评论称为“他的竞选顾问的不幸举动，我不认为友军开火是有帮助的。”

拉马斯瓦米还继续声称，哈利和特朗普被定位为竞选中的两个候选人，最终目标是从比赛中淘汰特朗普。

“我们不能上那个圈套。一年后，我们不会回过头来说我们对发生的事情感到震惊。我们会为没有阻止它而自责，”他在X上写道，并补充说，“你不会听到我的任何友好射击。”

到目前为止，由于特朗普对这位前总统的大力赞扬和辩护，他在很大程度上避免批评拉马斯瓦米。然而，随着选民将在周一的首次全国党团会议上开始发出自己的声音，以及拉马斯瓦米开始变得更加直接地阐述他为什么是特朗普的替代者，这些批评也随之而来。

在竞选过程中，这位商人出身的总统候选人向倾向于特朗普的选民推销自己，称自己是两全其美的人:既有商人经验，又对宪法有深刻理解。拉马斯瓦米创建了生物技术公司Roivant Sciences和“反ESG”资产管理公司奋发图强。

“我认为你真正需要的是特德·克鲁兹的法律知识和唐纳德·特朗普的商业执行能力的结合，”他周六在爱荷华州奥科博吉对一名选民说。他一直将自己描述为“美国的未来第一”

有利的态度似乎是相互的，特朗普经常离开拉马斯瓦米他对2024年竞争对手的持续抨击。上个月共和党辩论结束后，特朗普甚至宣布拉马斯瓦米获胜，称“维韦克赢是因为他认为我很棒。”

但最近，当他从一个挤满特朗普支持者的市政厅跳到另一个市政厅时，拉马斯瓦米还将特朗普比作战争中的“受伤”士兵，他说“如果你想救特朗普”，爱荷华州人应该投票给他。他声称，特朗普的政治对手不会让这位前总统靠近白宫，以支持共和党总统候选人妮基·黑利，理由是特朗普在2008年被从初选中除名科罗拉多州还有缅因州。

“如果你想拯救特朗普——不仅仅是拯救这个国家——而是拯救特朗普，我相信投票给我是最好的方式，”拉马斯瓦米上周在爱荷华州奥图姆瓦的市政厅说。

12月，拉马斯瓦米在费尔菲尔德比萨饼农场再次表示:“我甚至不认为他们会让这个家伙在白宫附近的任何地方出现。”。“想人。你怎么想呢?你看到了什么?他们给了你从科罗拉多往下的所有线索。不要玩那种游戏。”

“让我们转向新的方向，”拉马斯瓦米继续说道。"以我们的运动为例，同样的原则，同样的理想."

拉马斯瓦米承诺去除他本人从科罗拉多州的共和党初选投票中声援特朗普，以回应该州最高法院的裁决，即他没有资格在1月6日左右的活动中参加该州的竞选，甚至向最高法院提交了法庭之友辩护状，似乎质疑特朗普的律师代表他的能力。

“坦率地说，我不知道他们是否会自己提出最好的法律论据，”拉马斯瓦米本周在一次竞选活动中说。

爱荷华州人经常在竞选活动中问拉马斯瓦米，他是否会考虑成为特朗普的竞选伙伴，他甚至开玩笑说，他会考虑特朗普作为他的副总统人选或顾问，他说他想学习特朗普的经验。

“我认为对于一个80岁的人来说，这是一个非常好的角色，”拉马斯瓦米上个月在爱荷华州费尔菲尔德的一个市政厅说。“我会把他当成顾问。我想知道尸体埋在哪里。我想体验他试图做但最终没能完成的事情。”

Trump criticizes Ramaswamy publicly for the 1st time ahead of Iowa caucus

With just two days left until the Iowa caucuses, former PresidentDonald Trumphas started to criticize Republican presidential candidateVivek Ramaswamyas the two have appeared to maintain a friendly relationship on the campaign trail up until this point.

"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," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday.

The criticism marks the first time Trump and his team have made direct, public attacks against Ramaswamy.

It stemmed from shirts that Ramaswamy's campaign is handing out that say 'Save Trump, Vote Vivek' on them. Ramaswamy posted a photo with a group of young men wearing them after his event in Rock Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, which caught the former president's attention.

"Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the 'other side' — don't get duped by this. Vote for 'TRUMP,' don't waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA," Trump added.

Senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita took it even further, calling the claim a "fraud."

"Here is a great picture of this campaigns number one FRAUD," he wrote on X, quote tweeting a picture Ramaswamy had posted with supporters wearing the shirts.

"Trump doesnt need "saving," LaCivita added.

After Trump's post, Ramaswamy again praised Trump, saying he respects "the hell out of Trump" and that he's the "best President of the 21st century." But he doubled down on his claim that Trump's political enemies aim to narrow the GOP field into a "2-horse race" between Trump and Haley and that they will eventually "eliminate" him from the race.

"OPEN YOUR EYES to the hard TRUTH: this system will stop at nothing to keep this man away from the White House," Ramaswamy continued.

Ramaswamy posted an extended comment Saturday night on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he reiterated his respect for Trump and referred to the former president's comments as an "unfortunate move by his campaign advisers, I don't think friendly fire is helpful."

Ramaswamy also continued to claim that Haley and Trump were being positioned as the two candidates in the race with the end goal of eliminating Trump from the contest.

"We can't fall for that trap. 1 year from now, we won't look back and say we were shocked that it happened. We'll kick ourselves for not stopping it," he wrote in part on X and added that "you won't hear any friendly fire from me."

Until now, Trump has largely avoided criticizing Ramaswamy due to his strong praise and defense of the former president. However, the criticisms come as voters will start making their voices heard in the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Monday and as Ramaswamy has started to become more direct in laying out the case for why he is the Trump alternative.

On the campaign trail, the businessman-turned-presidential hopeful has pitched himself to Trump-leaning voters as the best of both worlds: someone with experience as a businessman who also has a deep understanding of the Constitution. Ramaswamy founded biotech company Roivant Sciences and 'anti-ESG' asset management firm Strive.

"I think what you actually need is a hybrid of the legal knowledge of a Ted Cruz with the business capabilities to execute of a Donald Trump," he told a voter in Okoboji, Iowa, on Saturday. He has been describing himself as "the future of America First."

The favorable attitude appeared to have been mutual, with Trump often leavingRamaswamyout of his continued bashing against his 2024 rivals. After the GOP debate last month, Trump even declared Ramaswamy the winner, saying "Vivek WINS because he thinks I'm great."

But recently, as he hops from one town hall full of Trump supporters to another, Ramaswamy has also been comparing Trump to a "wounded" soldier in a war, saying "If you want to save Trump," Iowans should vote for him instead. He claims that Trump's political opponents will not let the former president near the White House in order to prop up Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, citing Trump's removal from primary ballots inColoradoand Maine.

"If you want to save Trump – not just save this country – but save Trump, I believe a vote for me is the best way to do it," Ramaswamy said at a town hall in Ottumwa, Iowa, last week.

"I don't even think they're gonna let the guy get anywhere within spitting distance of the White House," Ramaswamy again said at a Fairfield Pizza Ranch in December. "Think people. What do you think? What do you see? They're giving you every clue you can from Colorado on down. Don't play into that game."

"Let's go to the new direction," Ramaswamy continued. "Take our movement, same principle, same ideals."

Ramaswamy pledged toremovehimself from Colorado's Republican primary ballot in solidarity with Trump in response to the state's Supreme Court's ruling that he is ineligible to run in the state over his activity surrounding Jan. 6, and even filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, seemingly questioning Trump's lawyer's ability to represent him well.

"Frankly, I don't know if they're gonna make the best legal arguments on their own," Ramaswamy said at a campaign stop this week.

Ramaswamy, who Iowans often ask on the campaign trail if he would consider being Trump's running mate, has even joked that he would instead consider Trump as his VP pick or adviser, saying he wants to learn from Trump's experience.

"I think that's actually a great role for an 80-year-old," Ramaswamy said at a town hall in Fairfield, Iowa, last month. "I would take him as an adviser. I want to know where the bodies are buried. I want the experience of what he tried to do that he couldn't ultimately end up accomplishing."