Donald Trump hopes to seal the nomination race for the Republican primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday, where his rival Nikki Haley represents the last obstacle in his path after the withdrawal of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Like last week, the favorite of the Republican primaries is shuttling between campaign rallies and the New York court where he is expected to testify Monday in the defamation suit brought against him by an author, E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of rape and had him convicted in civil court last May for sexual assault.
Two days before the Republican primary in New Hampshire, a small state in the northeast, Mr. DeSantis announced on Sunday that he was throwing in the towel and rallying behind Donald Trump for the November presidential election.
“It is clear to me that the majority of Republican voters in the primary want to give Donald Trump another chance,” he explained on X (ex-Twitter).
Now alone on the track against the former president, the former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley is going all out in New Hampshire, seen as her best chance after a disappointing third place in Iowa won hands down by Mr. Trump on January 15.
No candidate has ever failed to win the Republican nomination after winning in these first two states.
Barring an exploit from Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s road to his official nomination as a candidate against Joe Biden in the presidential election could thus be completely clear.
At 77, he is increasing the attacks against his rival whom he had appointed ambassador to the UN in 2017, but whom he ruled out could be his running mate.
“I know her very well. She’s not tough enough. She’s not smart enough. And she wasn’t respected enough,” he told supporters in New Hampshire’s capital, Concord. .
– Independent voters –
In return, Nikki Haley was attacked after Donald Trump mistook her for a Democratic politician during a speech.
“He’s just not at the same level as he was in 2016. I think you can see some of that decline,” she said on CBS, adding that the former president was a “magnet.” attracting “chaos”.
But Nikki Haley won’t have it easy, even helped by the high proportion of independents in New Hampshire — who are allowed to vote in both party primaries without being affiliated with them, and generally choose moderate candidates.
After finishing second in Iowa, Ron DeSantis, with tough positions on immigration and abortion, was only credited with 6% by polls in New Hampshire. The governor of Florida has decided to hang up his gloves and support Mr. Trump.
Before the announcement of this withdrawal, Nikki Haley was 15 points behind Donald Trump in the RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight poll averages, and the recent good momentum from which she benefited seems to have waned.
But an unexpected performance on Tuesday could place her in a good position for the next election at the end of February, in her state of South Carolina, of which she was governor.
– Judicial clock –
“I think it would be great to have Nikki Haley as president,” Madison Gillis, 18, who will vote for the first time on Tuesday, told AFP. “She’s great. I like what she stands for. I think she has a chance in New Hampshire,” she added, in a restaurant in Manchester, the largest city in the state.
New Hampshire only represents 22 delegates, out of a total of 1,215 who will officially nominate the Republican candidate in July in Milwaukee.
But compared to more conservative states, New Hampshire gives a better indication of possible electoral success at the national level, and sets the tone for future elections.
Notably “Super Tuesday”, scheduled for March 5, where some 874 delegates are at stake and can allow a candidate to have three-quarters of the number necessary to win the nomination.
Donald Trump’s supporters estimate that he should be able to obtain this key number a week later, or in April at most.
The objective for the former president is to move quickly while the judicial clock is ticking: the month of March will mark the opening of two new criminal trials targeting him, including one for his attempts to reverse the result of the 2020 election.
Donald Trump is also awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court, before which he challenged his ineligibility in the state of Colorado, and which must begin studying the case on February 8.
2024-01-22 03:11:15
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