HALEY AIMING TO DERAIL THE TRUMP JUGGERNAUT
Former president’s last remaining Republican opponent makes final push in New Hampshire primary, but faces an uphill battle according to polls
As the last major challenger in Donald Trump’s way to the Republican nomination, Nikki Haley is hoping New Hampshire voters feel so strongly about keeping the former president away from the White House that they turn out to support her in large numbers.
“America does not do coronations,” Haley said at a VFW hall in Franklin, joined by her daughter and son-in-law. “Let’s show all of the media class and the political class that we’ve got a different plan in mind, and let’s show the country what we can do.”
It is an uphill battle for the former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor. Most conservatives want to give Trump another chance at beating President Joe Biden despite Trump’s 2020 election loss and the 91 felony charges he faces in four separate indictments.
Polls in New Hampshire suggest Trump leads Haley in a state uniquely suited to her strengths, though his lead is narrower than the 30-point blowout he scored in the Iowa caucuses.
Haley told reporters she was expecting a stronger outcome than Iowa. New Hampshire’s results are expected around noon Hong Kong time today.
“This is a building game for us. This has always been that,” she said. “We feel very good about it.”
Trump held what he said would be his last rally before the election on Monday night. He started the day in New York for his defamation trial after an earlier jury determined he had sexually abused a columnist in the 1990s, but the session was cancelled due to a juror’s illness.
Trump was joined on stage by three of his former opponents who have now endorsed him: South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
The show of force – interrupted several times by climate change protesters, who were shouted down and removed – is part of a broader effort by Trump’s team to lock up the primary and demonstrate the party is rallying around him.
“Every day the Republican Party is becoming more and more unified,” Trump told several hundred people in a steamy, packed hotel ballroom just hours before the first votes were to be cast. “Now is the time for the Republican Party to come together. We have to unify.”
He alluded to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ departure from the race on Sunday but did not name him.
“And I think one person will be gone, probably tomorrow,” he said, alluding to Haley.
On paper, Trump had seemed more vulnerable in New Hampshire than in any other early voting state on the primary calendar.
Though voters here supported him by a wide margin in 2016, the state has long been known for its moderate tradition, including allowing unaffiliated voters to participate in Republican primaries. And Haley had been on the rise, prompting Trump’s campaign and its allies to spend millions trying to blunt her momentum.
DeSantis suspending his bid turned the state into the one-onone contest between Trump and Haley that she and a long line of anti-Trump Republicans had said they wanted. But some evidence suggests Trump could be better positioned to capitalise on DeSantis’ exit than Haley.
According to AP VoteCast, DeSantis supporters in Iowa overwhelmingly described themselves as conservative and Trump outperformed Haley 53 per cent to 13 per cent among that group.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita said about Haley making it to a two-person race.
DeSantis immediately endorsed Trump upon dropping out, saying it was clear to him that Republican voters preferred the former president.
Never before has a presidential candidate won primary contests in both Iowa and New Hampshire and failed to secure the party’s presidential nomination.
“If she doesn’t win here, there’s no path for her whatsoever going forward,” said James Blair, national field director for the Trump campaign. “Republicans control the nominating process. They are with Donald Trump, growing every day.”
To help get out the vote, Trump’s team says it has amassed a team of 2,000 volunteers, including 250 town captains.
Haley’s campaign has been lowering expectations for New Hampshire after insisting for weeks that an outright victory against Trump was possible.
“Beating Donald Trump is not easy. He is a juggernaut,” Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney said.