Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suggested on Tuesday that only “low IQ” political candidates spend money on TV ads after reports indicated that his campaign will no longer spend money on TV spots with just weeks to go before the first nomination contest.
Ramaswamy’s campaign has stopped buying cable ads and currently has no TV ad bookings booked ahead of the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15 and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23, NBC News first reported.
“That’s not accurate — we’re not stopping all TV spending,” Tricia McLaughlin, a Ramaswamy campaign spokeswoman, told The Post.
Ramaswamy, however, dismissed the importance of TV ad spending in a tweet Tuesday, acknowledging that his campaign “does it differently.”
“The president’s TV ad spending is stupid, low ROI & a trick used by political consultants to confuse low IQ candidates,” the 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur wrote on X.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign spent less on TV ads last week than the previous week. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
Ramaswamy is far behind Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley in the Iowa and New Hampshire polls. ZUMAPRESS.com
“We do it differently. Spending $$ in a data-driven way…seems like a crazy idea in US politics. The big surprise will come on Jan 15,” he added.
The political newcomer’s campaign has spent about $2.2 million on TV, digital and radio ads since early November, according to the outlet, which cited data from ad-tracking firm Adimpact.
But campaign spending on TV ads dropped significantly in December, from $200,000 in the first full week of the month to just $6,000 last week, according to Adimpact.
McLaughlin said Ramaswamy’s campaign is still spending the same amount but is now focusing on non-traditional advertising, arguing that “the polls have barely changed” despite nearly $200 million in combined spending on TV ads by all presidential candidates.
“Our spending levels haven’t changed — we’re just following the data,” McLaughlin said. “We’re focused on getting out the voters we’ve identified — the best way to reach them is to use addressable advertising, mail, text, direct calls and door to door to communicate with our voters about Vivek’s vision for America, making their plans for the caucus and turn them out.”
McLaughlin acknowledged that the campaign’s shift in spending was unusual.
“As you know, this is not what most campaigns look like. We deliberately structured it this way so that we have the ability to be nimble and very targeted in our ad spend,” he said.
“Get ready for a big upset on Jan 15,” added McLaughlin.
The rest of the GOP primary field, however, is still spending significantly on airing ahead of the primary nominating contest.
Last week, former President Donald Trump’s campaign spent $1.1 million on TV ads; former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s team spent $1 million; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign spent $270,000; and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie bought $88,000 worth of TV ads, according to NBC News.
The RealClearPolitics polling average pegs Ramaswamy with just 5.9% support in the Hawkeye State, well behind Trump’s 51.3% support, DeSantis’ 18.6% support and Haley’s 16.1% number.
Ramaswamy faced similar problems in New Hampshire, where he had 6% support, trailing Trump at 46.3%, Haley at 24.8%, Christie at 10.5%, and DeSantis at 9.5%.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
