Donald Trump has, like a boa constrictor, squeezed the life out of the Republican primary cycle. Last night, he swallowed New Hampshire and possibly Nikki Haley too.

Haley did better than many of the late polls suggested. But that’s not saying much. She won 44 per cent of the vote, finishing 12 points ten points behind Trump. She now has the momentum to move on to South Carolina, where she is thirty points behind in polls. But if she couldn’t win here in New Hampshire, where independents can vote in the Republican primary, it seems unlikely she can win anywhere. Or, as one Trump campaign official at his campaign’s election night watch party in Nashua put it: ‘She’s staying in, because she’s a psycho.’

As a publicity genius, Trump must realise that he has sucked the energy of the primary contests

Haley did well in affluent New Hampshire Democrat-leaning districts – Concord, Lebanon and Dover – which reported early. Inevitably, that prompted some excitement that she might dramatically exceed expectations. But she didn’t do enough to overcome the wall of Trumpism elsewhere.

‘This show is far from over,’ said Haley in her defiant concession speech. ‘I find in life you can’t let people get away with bullshit,’ said Trump in reply. ‘She’s doing a speech like she won. She didn’t win, she lost…if you remember Ron [DeSantis] was very upset because she pretended she won Iowa. Didn’t she come in third?’

Haley’s success in certain bellwether places might be a worrying wrinkle for Trump as he looks ahead to the general election in November. Haley won almost twice as many votes in Hanover, New Hampshire as Trump won in the presidential contest in 2020. That might suggest the animus to him in many pockets of America is as strong as ever.

But Haley pitched herself to New Hampshirites as the woman who could bring stability after the chaos of Trump and Biden, someone who could rein in America’s multi-trillion-dollar debts.

QOSHE - Trump has sucked the energy out of the Republican primaries - Freddy Gray
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Trump has sucked the energy out of the Republican primaries

7 1
24.01.2024

Donald Trump has, like a boa constrictor, squeezed the life out of the Republican primary cycle. Last night, he swallowed New Hampshire and possibly Nikki Haley too.

Haley did better than many of the late polls suggested. But that’s not saying much. She won 44 per cent of the vote, finishing 12 points ten points behind Trump. She now has the momentum to move on to South Carolina, where she is thirty points behind in polls. But if she couldn’t win here in New Hampshire, where independents........

© The Spectator


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