In a twist of irony, Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy was compelled to call off three campaign events on Tuesday due to extreme winter conditions sweeping across Iowa. This decision came just a day after he criticized fellow candidates for doing the same as the storm began on Monday.
Ramaswamy took to social media early Tuesday to announce the postponement of his Coralville, Iowa event, the first of seven scheduled for the day. He cited the weather conditions as making it “effectively impossible to safely travel from Des Moines to Coralville.”
Later in the day, an updated schedule was released on Ramaswamy’s social media platforms, revealing the cancellation of previously planned campaign stops in Burlington and Keokuk, Iowa.
On Monday, Ramaswamy had proudly declared his decision to proceed with his four planned campaign events in Northwest Iowa, despite the weather. He even took a swipe at former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for cancelling her Sioux City, Iowa event, while he held his own in the same city. Ramaswamy suggested that Haley’s decision to cancel her events demonstrated a lack of the necessary determination to serve as president.
During his Sioux City event, Ramaswamy told the audience of approximately 25 people, “You know, some saw snowstorm, canceled events in northwest Iowa. We got four events, we’re keeping them intact. If you can’t handle the snow, you’re not ready for Xi Jinping, that’s my view.”
Despite potential safety risks, Ramaswamy maintained that holding events during a snowstorm reflected positively on his presidential qualifications. He stated, “If this was truly the blizzard of the century, that’d be another question. It’s not that. So, I think people got to toughen up a little bit.”
However, following his Monday events, Ramaswamy’s vehicle ended up stuck in a snow ditch while traveling from his final event in Primghar, Iowa, to Des Moines. He shared on social media that a passerby helped pull the car out of the ditch, ensuring their safe return home.
Des Moines and its surrounding areas remain under a winter storm warning until Tuesday evening, with predictions suggesting the area could receive as much as 9 inches of snow.