Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced on Wednesday that his campaign will be halting all television advertising in favor of other forms of voter outreach just weeks out from the Iowa Caucuses.
The biotech entrepreneur, who has already spent more than $4 million on advertising this year, is now calling it an “idiotic” decision for candidates to invest any further in the outdated medium of broadcast television.
According to ad tracking firm AdImpact, Ramaswamy’s campaign has spent roughly $4.6 million on advertising this year, with $1.8 million spent on TV ads in Iowa and another $1.3 million in New Hampshire. As recently as the beginning of December, an additional $200,000 was directed towards TV advertising.
However, as the holidays approached, the Ramaswamy campaign’s weekly spending dropped off significantly even as his fellow candidates ramped up their efforts. During a week in which Ramaswamy spent just $6,000 on TV ads, former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley spent over $1 million, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spent $270,000, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spent $88,000—to say nothing of the super PAC money spent on each candidate’s behalf. Pro-Ramaswamy PACs, however, have reportedly not spent a dime on advertising since October.
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According to Ramaswamy himself, this decrease in spending is the result of a recent lesson he’s learned about the dynamics of campaigning in the modern era.
“Mostly everybody who’s advertising on TV right now is probably wasting their money,” Ramaswamy said in an interview with Politico. “And ourselves, we were included in that category. … It’s basically the most expensive method with least measurable results.”
He doubled down on this approach in an X post on Wednesday, calling presidential TV ads “idiotic, low-ROI & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ.”
“We’re doing it differently,” he continued. “Spending $$ in a way that follows data…apparently a crazy idea in US politics.”
Presidential TV ad spending is idiotic, low-ROI & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ.
We’re doing it differently. Spending $$ in a way that follows data…apparently a crazy idea in US politics.
Big surprise coming on Jan 15. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/i2X7Q5d2T9
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 27, 2023
Ramaswamy campaign press secretary Tricia McLaughlin echoed this sentiment in a statement, emphasizing that voter outreach spending hasn’t decreased.
“Our spending levels haven’t changed—we’re just following the data,” she said. “We are focused on bringing out the voters we’ve identified. The best way to reach them is using addressable advertising, mail, text, live calls, and doors to communicate with our voters on Vivek’s vision for America, making their plan to caucus and turning them out.”
While scaling back on advertising spending typically indicates trouble within a campaign, Ramaswamy and his campaign surrogates remain optimistic about his chances in the upcoming Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
“Get ready for a major upset on Jan. 15 and good luck to the political consultants who are reliant on traditional ad spending to line their pockets,” McLaughlin said.
The Iowa Caucuses will be held on January 15, followed by the New Hampshire primary on January 23.
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