Ramaswamy "doesn't hold it against" Trump that former president called his campaign "deceitful"

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Sunday he isn’t assigning much weight to former President Donald Trump’s first criticism of his campaign.

Speaking to reporters after a campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa, on Sunday, Ramaswamy said he “doesn’t hold it against” Trump that the former president called his campaign “deceitful."

“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 Saturday on Truth Social.

Ramaswamy told CNN that “I interpret it as bad campaign strategist corporate consultant advice that he might have received, and so I don’t hold it against him. ... He’s been a great president.”

Ramaswamy has argued that Trump won’t be able to win the general election because of strong legal obstacles and political opposition.

When asked by CNN whether he believes the timing of Trump’s attack suggests the former president may feel threatened by his campaign, Ramaswamy declined to speculate on Trump’s intentions but reiterated his belief that his campaign is seeing a “late surge” in Iowa. 

“I can't speak for anybody else's attitude towards our campaign. What I can tell you is that you'd have to have your head stuck in that snow pile to believe that we're not having a late surge here in this race,” he said.