'What triggered this change of heart?' Internet reacts as Trump intensifies attack on Vivek Ramaswamy, says he is 'not MAGA'

DES MOINES, IOWA: Former US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday, January 13, to express his disapproval of fellow GOP presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy just 48 hours before the Iowa caucuses.

Trump's criticism was direct and harsh, with him slamming the only Republican in the presidential race who had previously expressed unswerving support for him.

Ramaswamy had filed an amicus brief just two days before on Thursday, January 11, at the United States Supreme Court in support of the former president's efforts to remain on state ballots, per Fox News.

What did Trump say about Ramaswamy in his Truth Social post?

Donald Trump made sharp remarks about the 38-year-old biotech multimillionaire and outed him as a ‘fraud’ to his supporters.

The former President posted on Saturday evening, "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 remarked that Vivek is "not MAGA" and warned his supporters to not get “duped.”

“Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the 'other side' — don’t get duped by this,“ the 77-year-old GOP frontrunner stated, adding. “Vote for "TRUMP,” Don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA."

"The Biden Indictments against his Political Opponent will never be allowed in this Country, they are already beginning to fall! MAGA!!!" Trump concluded.

Ramaswamy, like the former head of state, had positioned himself as a political outsider to the GOP voter base going into the campaign.

This marked the first instance in which Trump spoke negatively about Ramaswamy since the beginning of his campaign trail.

The accusations came a few days after polls showed that Trump is still leading in Iowa polls, but may be losing ground to the notoriously inflammatory Ramaswamy, who some contend is stealing support from the ex-president.

Ramaswamy, who is perceived to be quite ‘radical’, had described 'transgenderism' as a 'mental health disorder' in the past, according to Daily Mail.

Recently, he had claimed in an interview that Trump is "wounded" and has been in a bad way since his 2016 presidential run, and contended that to be the reason why MAGA supporters should ultimately prefer him over the former President.

He failed to garner the national support needed to mount a strong challenge for the presidential nomination, but he sure could play spoilsport to some of his GOP rivals in the upcoming primaries unless he drops out of the race completely.

During a campaign event in Des Moines on Saturday, Ramaswamy sought to re-align himself with Trump by posting a photo on X of a gathering of supporters wearing t-shirts with Trump's mugshot that read, “Save Trump. 'Vote for Vivek.”

The tweet from Ramaswamy, publicizing the ardent backers of the former POTUS as patriots, was captioned, “A group of young men in Iowa came out in a blizzard. They sent a clear message.”

Several hours after Ramaswamy's tweet, Trump responded with a pointed retort on Truth Social.

As the four GOP candidates vie for votes in the upcoming caucus, Trump has seemingly abandoned his prior association with Ramaswamy, hoping to all but guarantee a victory.

Ramaswamy responded to Trump's Truth Social post about him by tweeting, "It’s an unfortunate move by his campaign advisors, I don’t think friendly fire is helpful. Donald Trump was the greatest President of the 21st century, and I’m not going to criticize him in response to this late attack."

Internet mocks Ramaswamy as Trump severs all ties ahead of Iowa caucus

People on X ridiculed Vivek Ramaswamy for getting booted off by the former President, with many predicting this might hammer the deathnail on his dismal presidential campaign.

One X user remarked, "What triggered this change of heart?"

Another wrote, "They're both snake oil salesman completely devoid of any actual beliefs."

Someone else quipped, "With Trump breaking up with him, all Vivek has left are the TikTok commenters who edge to him."

One user said, "Don the con labeling someone else a con is a truly opulent and amusing spectacle."

Another remarked, ""Vivek is not MAGA", says the dictator. Like that's a bad thing?"

"I think Iowa probably is not going as well for Trump as the polls suggest and hence he wants Vivek votes," someone else conjectured.

"Methinks Mr Trump is fearing he may come in under 50% in Iowa (I bet he does) and that would be a bad showing in his eye so he's got to see what he can steal from poor Vivek," a comment read.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.