EPPING, New Hampshire – Presidential candidate Nikki Haley won’t predict an upset over rival Donald Trump in New Hampshire days before Tuesday’s election, saying she hopes to be “stronger” than she was in Iowa.
“In Iowa I want to be strong. We did that. We started at 2%, we ended at 20%,” Haley told The Post during a campaign stop Sunday afternoon.
“In New Hampshire, I want to be stronger than that, and in South Carolina I want to be stronger than that,” added the former UN ambassador.
“We’ll know what’s ‘strong’ and ‘stronger’ on Election Day, but that’s the goal. That was always the goal.”
Haley averaged 15 points behind Trump in the Granite State, 50.3% to 35.3%, per RealClearPolitics.
The margin is the closest a candidate has gotten to the former president in months, but could be affected by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropping out of the race on Sunday shortly after Haley’s speech.
Nikki Haley greets children with ice cream during a campaign stop at The Beach Plum ahead of the New Hampshire primary election in Epping, New Hampshire/ Diana Glebova/NY Post
Haley’s campaign has long maintained that the fight for 2024 has become a “two-person” race between her and Trump, even after he finished third in Iowa. His camp has also insisted that he will succeed with enough “momentum” built up in several early states.
But his comments on Sunday appeared to undercut the expectations raised by his key supporters in New Hampshire.
On January 3, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu was confident he could finish first in the primary, even beating Trump. In recent days, Sununu has also backed down.
“He doesn’t need to win. I mean, nobody goes from single digits in December to you really have to win in January,” the New Hampshire governor told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Nikki Haley and Chris Sununu greeted New Hampshire voters at The Beach Plum on Sunday afternoon. AFP via Getty Images
The key to the nomination is still beating Trump by winning over voters, Sununu told reporters at Haley’s Epping stop.
“If you’re waiting for legal problems or something external to bring down Donald Trump, that’s not going to happen,” he said. “You beat him at the ballot box, that’s democracy. Voters have to decide to move on, and they will. More are joining the team with Nikki Haley every day.”
Haley has had steady momentum in New Hampshire in recent months as she has dominated the heavily independent state with her messaging and frequent campaign stops.
His audience numbers seem to be growing, as he fills auditoriums and other venues across the state. But the attendance numbers were still small compared to Trump’s mega rallies, such as the one held on Saturday night.
Former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to a crowd during a campaign event in Manchester, NH, Saturday, Jan. 20. AP
Some of Haley’s supporters hope she will have the numbers to beat Trump on Tuesday.
Carole Alfano, a Haley voter from Exeter, New Hampshire, said she thinks the former South Carolina governor has a chance because of “the number of undeclared voters who can take the Republican ballot.”
“He definitely has a chance,” Alfano told The Post.
Nevada is the next state to vote after New Hampshire, holding both primary and caucus days. Haley is the only top candidate left in the race to register for the primary, and will not face Trump in the caucus, meaning she is ineligible for a delegate.
Haley defended her decision to participate in the primary during her campaign stop in Epping.
Haley said she wants to be “stronger” in New Hampshire than in Iowa. AFP via Getty Images He said he wants to keep momentum going into the South Carolina primary. AP
“Talk to people in Nevada: They’ll tell you the caucus has been sealed, bought and paid for for a long time,” he told reporters. “So that’s why we got into the primary, but we know that’s kind of — I mean the caucus is what it is — and these are the people who are involved in it, who are trying to stop it, but that’s the Trump train that’s running. that, but we will focus on fair states.”
In Haley’s home state of South Carolina, Trump averaged 50.0% compared to her 21.8%, per RCP. The former president has also received significantly more support in the first southern state.
Trump denounced his lack of support on his home turf during his campaign rally on Saturday by bringing high-profile supporters to the stage, including South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster.
At an Epping campaign stop, Haley said she doesn’t “want” support from South Carolina lawmakers because she opposed them when she was governor.
“I rejected them when I became governor. I forced them to show their vote on the record, that they did not hide through voice vote. I’m forcing them to pass ethics reform that they don’t want to do,” Haley argued.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
