Former President Donald Trump beat former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary this evening. According to the Associated Press, Trump received 54.8% of the vote while Haley garnered support from 43.6% of voters. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race earlier this week and endorsed Trump, leaving only two names on the remaining ballots in the race for the Republican candidacy. Trump spent the majority of his acceptance speech bashing Haley and her chances of success in future primaries. He also made a variety of false claims, including that he’d won New Hampshire in all the past Republican primaries and general elections in which he’s run when he actually lost to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the general elections of 2016 and 2020. However, this misinformation doesn’t seem to worry Trump’s supporters, as he has been garnering continual support despite the controversy surrounding his indictments.
“The more [Democrats] indict Trump, the more it would make me want to vote for him in the general election, because I think he’s being treated unfairly,” Iowan David Redenbaugh said.
In her speech, Haley continued to challenge Trump, claiming that the race was not over. She is insistent that Trump’s potential nomination would lead to an upset for the Republican Party and a potential Kamala Harris presidency (President Biden’s current Vice President). Haley is now on the way to her home state, South Carolina, where an upcoming primary will occur on Feb. 24.
“[The political class] is falling all over themselves, saying this race is over,” Haley said at her speech in New Hampshire after the primary results, “Well I have news for all of them… New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not the last in the nation.”
If Haley does drop out of the race, it will leave many Republicans without a candidate they’d feel comfortable supporting. Sam Walls is an Independent from Iowa who caucused for Haley last week. He shared his fear about Haley dropping out.
“If Trump gets the nomination, there are a number of people, like me, that will vote for a third-party candidate,” Walls said.
Amidst Trump’s victory, questions are rising about the future of Haley’s campaign. Two losses call into question the strength of her candidacy in the GOP race. According to the New York Times, Trump’s New Hampshire win further cements his hold on the Republican nomination, suggesting that his campaign will begin to focus more on targeting President Joe Biden rather than Haley. Barack Obama’s re-election campaign researcher and advisor David Simas saw a pattern in the elections so far.
“Trump’s dominance across every single group, I think, is the real story,” Simas said.
