‘Full Steam, Baby’: As Others Cancel, Ramaswamy Tours Iowa Through ‘Life-Threatening’ Blizzard Conditions

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy prepares to take the debate stage in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Dec. 6, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Just days after a snowstorm dumped a foot or more of snow on parts of Iowa, winter storms are blowing across the state again as residents gear up for the Jan. 15 Republican caucus.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Des Moines has warned of “life-threatening blizzard conditions at least into early Saturday,” including wind chills low enough to cause frostbite in just 10 minutes. Two to four additional inches of snow are expected.

Many campaigns have canceled events in response to the extreme weather and difficult travel conditions.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley nixed every in-person event scheduled for Friday.

Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, a favorite with former President Donald J. Trump’s base, was slated to speak to Trump fans at Pella Memorial Building in Pella, Iowa, on Jan. 12, but called it off.

Mary Robertson of Pella Community Services, which rents out the building, confirmed the Lake event cancellation to The Epoch Times.

All Never Back Down PAC events for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Jan. 11 were canceled.

In the morning, though, Mr. DeSantis and one of his top allies in the state, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, delivered remarks at the Northside Conservatives Club meeting in Ankeny, near Des Moines.

DeSantis campaign spokesperson Gloria Taylor told The Epoch Times that the campaign added an extra stop to the day’s schedule at its campaign headquarters.

The Epoch Times could not immediately reach a Never Back Down spokesperson to confirm whether Mr. DeSantis’s eight scheduled events on Jan. 13 would still take place.

While most campaigns have deferred somewhat to the worsening conditions, at least one campaign may keep up a particularly grueling schedule through the very windy, very snowy, and very cold evening of Jan. 12.

Zach Henry, a spokesperson for the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign, confirmed that his candidate is still on the road.

“Full steam[,] baby,” he wrote in a message to The Epoch Times.

The team was slated to appear at events in Hubbard, Fort Dodge, Council Bluffs, and West Des Moines, Mr. Ramaswamy posted on X, formerly Twitter, early on Jan. 12.

A view of the blizzard in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Jan. 12, 2024. Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times

A Google Maps route puts the distance at 326 miles—hours and hours of driving through an intensifying blizzard.

“We’ll continue to every last one for as long as we can *physically* make it,” Mr. Ramaswamy wrote.

The hazardous weather has taken its toll on the entrepreneur’s campaign schedule before.

After arriving late to an event in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 11 with Candace Owens, the candidate explained that his bus had taken “an extra 30-minute route.”

“We were wondering where we were going—there’s all this snow ahead of our bus,” he said.

CNN reported earlier this week that Mr. Ramaswamy had canceled several events during the Jan. 9 snowfall, pointing out that he had previously taken aim at Ms. Haley for her own cancellations.

Snow piled up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Jan. 12, 2024. The blizzard today comes just days after a foot or more of snow fell across Iowa. Nathan Worcester/The Epoch Times

So far, though, Mr. Ramaswamy’s punishing Jan. 12 schedule has not drawn much attention from the media.

Why not?

Mr. Henry speculated that it “wouldn’t fit the narrative” around his candidate.