Trump, Haley cancel Iowa campaign events over snow, Ramaswamy plows ahead with long-shot bid

With several inches of snow already on the ground in first-balloting state Iowa, GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Nikki Haley have respectively postponed or canceled campaign events, with just seven days remaining before caucus day. 

Trump's campaign "indefinitely postponed" an event in Ottumwa, according to The New York Times.

And Haley, running third to front-running Trump according to most polls, canceled one in Sioux City, in western Iowa.

Fellow primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy criticized Haley for canceling.

"Nikki Haley cancelled her events in Sioux City, Iowa to 'avoid embarrassment,'" Ramaswamy posted on X, formerly Twitter.

It was unclear who Ramaswamy may have been quoting when he wrote "avoid embarrassment."

Ramaswamy also said, "I'm headed to Sioux City for our event right now. We’re not cancelling. Four events in northwest Iowa, keeping them intact. If you can’t handle the snow, you can’t handle Xi Jinping," referring to the powerful Chinese president.  

Sioux City is expected to get about 6 inches of snow on Monday followed by around 5 more inches in the evening into Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Haley has a nearly double-digit lead on Ramaswamy in the Iowa caucuses, according to an average of polls from FiveThirtyEight. With 15.7%, Haley is in third behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the caucuses.

Ramaswamy is at 6% on average in Iowa. 

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.