Vivek Ramaswamy chalks up Donald Trump attack as bad campaign advice

One day after Donald Trump warned his supporters not to caucus for Vivek Ramaswamy during Monday's Iowa Caucuses, Ramaswamy said he would not engage with the former president.

Ramaswamy held five events Sunday, one day before Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses. During a briefing with reporters Sunday morning after an event in Ankeny, Ramaswamy called Trump's attack bad campaign advice.

In a post on Trump's Truth Social social media platform Saturday, Trump warned his supporters that caucusing for Ramaswamy was "a vote for the 'other side.'"

More: How the Iowa Caucuses work, who can caucus and where to caucus

Ramaswamy, 38, told reporters that he respects "the heck out of Donald Trump" and would support Trump if he gets the Republican nomination.

“It was probably an unfortunate move by his campaign advisers,” Ramaswamy said of Trump’s post. “I think he probably got bad advice. I don’t think friendly fire within our America First movement is helpful, and I’m not going to hold it against him. I’m not going to criticize him in response because he was an excellent president."

Despite Ramaswamy's challenge of Trump for the Republican nomination, the two had a relatively friendly public relationship until Saturday, with Trump at times praising Ramaswamy's policy positions and Ramaswamy defending Trump amid his ongoing legal battles.

The Ohio-based author of "Woke, Inc." barnstormed Iowa, making more stops than any other Republican candidate this cycle as he pitches himself as the "next generation" of the "America First" movement. If elected, Ramaswamy has pledged to pardon Trump if he was convicted on any of the charges pending against him.

Still, Trump's post came after Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the former president, attacked Ramaswamy for posting a photo with a group of supporters wearing T-shirts saying "SAVE TRUMP, VOTE VIVEK."

"Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, 'the best President in generations,' etc.," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful campaign tricks. Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the “other side” — don’t get duped by this."

During a stop at an Ankeny pizza restaurant Sunday morning, Ramaswamy told a crowd of between 75 and 100 people that the America First movement was bigger than Trump.

"Donald Trump was an excellent president and we love the man because he got this fight started," Ramaswamy told the crowd. "But now it is our job, my duty as your next president to finish it. It's going to take somebody from the outside to do this."

More: Iowa caucus night: Where to find results, follow live coverage

Armed security guards needed in schools after Perry High School shooting, Vivek Ramaswamy says

Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger, who was critically wounded in the Jan. 4 shooting at the high school, died Sunday, according to his family. Ramaswamy was in Perry the morning of the shooting for a campaign event at 9 a.m. at a restaurant near the school.

Vivek Ramaswamy offered his condolences to Marburger's family and Perry's residents on Sunday.

In a podcast during the Republican debate, Ramaswamy said three armed security guards were needed in each school in the country. As a reporter told Ramaswamy about Marburger’s death Sunday, he changed his stance slightly. One armed security guard could deter, but not stop shootings at schools, Ramaswamy said. So he would like to see three armed security guards in most schools and up to five armed security guards in larger schools, he said.

Ramaswamy wants to shut the U.S. Department of Education, which he said would provide funds to cover the cost of hiring armed security guards in schools.

“We apply more security in our airports, in our banks and many of our shopping malls than we do in our own schools, and I think that’s a failure,” Ramaswamy said. “Our most-valuable national asset is our children and the people taking the effort to educate those children. The least we can do as a country.”

"I am confident that will hopefully, we pray, prevent any tragedy like this again in the future, but it’s unconscionable that we haven’t taken that basic step to prevent it."

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Vivek Ramaswamy chalks up Donald Trump attack as bad campaign advice