A new report out this afternoon suggests that an alliance between Trump and Ramaswamy may be coming.
According to Politico, Corey Lewandowski spoke with Ramaswamy’s super PAC about joining and Trump did not object:
Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has spoken with a pro-Vivek Ramaswamy super PAC about coming on board — and ran the idea by the former president before doing so.
Lewandowski has talked with American Exceptionalism PAC, an outside group that has been set up to bolster the candidacy of Ramaswamy, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The longtime GOP operative, who for a time led Trump’s 2016 campaign and has remained an ally of the ex-president, approached Trump within the last several weeks to tell him about the prospect of him joining the organization.
Trump did not raise any objections, according to those people familiar with the talks.
The discussions come amid a seemingly growing alliance between Trump and Ramaswamy, a wealthy businessman and conservative activist who is also seeking the Republican nomination. Ramaswamy has largely refrained from criticizing Trump. Just this week, he defended the former president after a New York City jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Ramaswamy has also emerged as a persistent critic of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s chief primary rival.
Trump last week released a statement praising Ramaswamy, saying: “The thing I like about Vivek is that he only has good things to say about ‘President Trump,’ and all that the Trump Administration has so successfully done.”
Super PACs are prohibited by federal law from directly coordinating with campaigns. And the people familiar with the discussions say Trump simply did not raise any objections to Lewandowski joining the pro-Ramaswamy group, not as a means of placing him there to help his own election effort.
Still, Lewandowski’s presence at American Exceptionalism PAC could have the effect of bolstering Trump. With Lewandowski involved, top Republicans believe it would be inconceivable that the super PAC would target the former president, and would most likely focus its fire elsewhere.
It sounds like Team Trump is continuing to anticipate Governor DeSantis’ entry into the presidential race. Otherwise I see no real reason to do this.
DeSantis must really have them worried to be making moves like this. It reminds me of a scene from Avengers Endgame when all of Thanos’ enemy ships suddenly stopped firing on the forces below and began aiming at one huge new threat coming at them: