EPPING, New Hampshire – Presidential candidate Nikki Haley wouldn’t predict an upset over rival Donald Trump in New Hampshire days before Tuesday’s primary, but she said she expects to be “stronger” than in Iowa.
“At Iowa I wanted 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 even stronger than that, and in South Carolina I want to be even stronger than that,” the former UN ambassador added.
“We’ll find out what ‘strong’ and ‘stronger’ is on Election Day, but that’s the goal. “That has always been the goal.”
Haley is on average 15 points behind Trump in the Granite State, 50.3% to 35.3%, according to RealClearPolitics.
The margin is the closest a candidate has come to the former president in months, but could be affected if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race on Sunday, shortly after Haley’s comments.
Nikki Haley waves to children eating 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 been a “two-person” race between her and Trump, even after she placed third in Iowa. Her camp has also stressed that she will be successful if she builds up enough “momentum” in several early states.
But his comments Sunday appear to lower expectations raised by his primary sponsor in New Hampshire.
On January 3, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu was confident he could come out on top in the primary, even beating Trump. In recent days, Sununu has also backtracked.
“She doesn’t have to win. I mean, no one goes from single digits in December to absolutely having to win in January,” the New Hampshire governor told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Nikki Haley and Chris Sununu greet New Hampshire voters at The Beach Plum on Sunday afternoon. AFP via Getty Images
The key to the nomination remains beating Trump by winning over voters, Sununu told reporters at Haley’s stop in Epping.
“If you’re waiting for legal issues or something external to come up to take down Donald Trump, that’s not going to happen,” he said. “You beat him at the polls, that is democracy. Voters have to decide to move forward, and they will. “Every day more people join the team with Nikki Haley.”
Haley has had steady momentum in New Hampshire in recent months as she has prioritized the independent state with her messaging and frequent campaign stops.
His audience appears to be growing as he fills auditoriums and other venues across the state. But the number of attendees still pales in comparison to Trump’s mega rallies, like an event he held Saturday night.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd during a campaign event in Manchester, NH, on Saturday, January 20. AP
Some Haley supporters are hopeful she has the numbers needed to defeat 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 may vote Republican.”
“She definitely has a chance,” Alfano told The Post.
Nevada is the next state to vote after New Hampshire, with primaries and caucuses days apart. Haley is the only major candidate left in the race who has registered for the primary and will not face Trump in the caucus, meaning she is not eligible for delegates.
Haley defended her decision to run in the primary during her campaign stop in Epping.
Haley said she wants to be “even stronger” in New Hampshire than she was in Iowa. AFP via Getty Images She said she wants to continue gaining momentum heading into the South Carolina primary. AP
“Talk to the people of Nevada: They’ll tell you the caucuses have been sealed, bought and paid for for a long time,” he told reporters. “And that’s why we got into the primaries, but we know it’s kind of like, I mean, the caucus is what it is, and there are people who are involved in it, who tried to stop it, but that’s the Trump train moving forward. that, but we are going to focus on the states that are fair.”
In Haley’s home state of South Carolina, Trump is averaging 50.0% compared to hers at 21.8%, according to RCP. The former president has also received significantly more support in the first southern state.
Trump criticized his lack of support on his home turf during his campaign rally Saturday by bringing high-profile supporters, including South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, to the stage.
At the Epping campaign stop, Haley said she doesn’t “want” the endorsement of South Carolina lawmakers because she fought against them when she was governor.
“I rejected them when I was governor. I forced them to show their votes in the minutes, which they did not hide with voice votes. “I forced them to pass ethics reform that they didn’t want to do,” Haley argued.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn