Vivek Ramaswamy: TV ads are for 'chumps'

Vivek Ramaswamy says broadcast television advertising is “for chumps” and that his campaign will “shatter” expectations in Iowa despite dropping off the airwaves.

“Mostly everybody who’s advertising on TV right now is probably wasting their money,” Ramaswamy told POLITICO in a brief interview on Wednesday. “And ourselves, we were included in that category. … It’s basically the most expensive [method] with least measurable results.”

Ramaswamy’s campaign poured $4.6 million into advertising this year, according to the ad tracker AdImpact. But he ceased spending on broadcast television heading into the holidays, according to the tracking firm, leaving his campaign off the airwaves leading into the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, as NBC News first reported.

Going off the air is typically a sign of trouble for campaigns. Ramaswamy, who entered the race as a little-known biotech entrepreneur, has made debate stages with ease. But he has proved unable to sustain the buzz he generated from the first bout in Milwaukee. He entered the holidays mired in the mid-single digits in polling averages in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Ramaswamy maintains he has a “legitimate shot at winning the Iowa caucus,” even as he lags far behind former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in polls.

Ramaswamy told POLITICO there are “other means of higher [return on investment] approaches that are actually getting us significant numbers of caucus commitments.” He said his campaign is shifting to a more “targeted approach” that includes door knocking, digital and streaming ads, and mail as it looks to turn out non-traditional or first-time caucus-goers on Jan. 15.

Trump’s rivals have spent tens of millions of dollars on television advertising that has failed to propel them in the polls — a fact Ramaswamy noted to POLITICO.

“The dynamics of the race have mostly been unrelated in recent months to the expenditure of television ads,” Ramaswamy said.

Yet his opponents and their allied super PACs are still spending. Since the beginning of the month, SFA Fund, the pro-Haley super PAC, has been the biggest spender on TV ads, dropping $13.6 million according to data from AdImpact, and Haley’s campaign has spent $6.2 million.

Trump’s campaign has spent $5.9 million. Even DeSantis, who has largely outsourced TV advertising to supportive super PACs, has spent $1.2 million. While the embattled pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down has pulled back off the airwaves, another pro-DeSantis group has stepped in to fill the void.

On the heels of the headlines about Ramaswamy’s ad spending, Trump took to his social media platform, TruthSocial, to predict that Ramaswamy would endorse him.

But Ramaswamy said he isn’t going anywhere. On Wednesday, he told POLITICO that Trump will have “my full endorsement” if he’s the nominee, “just as I’d expect the same from him.”