Former US president Donald Trump on Tuesday cruised to victory in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential contest, marching closer to a November rematch with US President Joe Biden even as his sole remaining rival for the nomination, Nikki Haley, vowed to soldier on.
“This race is far from over,” Haley, a former UN ambassador, told supporters at a postelection party in Concord, challenging Trump to debate her. “I’m a fighter, and I’m scrappy, and now we’re the last one standing next to Donald Trump.”
At his own party in Nashua, Trump, 77, opened his speech by mocking Haley, 52, calling her an “impostor.”
Photo: AFP
“She’s doing, like, a speech like she won. She didn’t win. She lost... She had a very bad night,” he said.
The former president’s remarks followed a series of angry posts on his Truth Social app, denouncing her as “DELUSIONAL.”
The next competitive contest is scheduled for Feb. 24 in South Carolina, where Haley was born and served two terms as governor.
Trump has racked up endorsements from most of the state’s Republican figures, and opinion polls show him with a wide lead there.
In New Hampshire, with 86 percent of the expected vote tallied, Trump held a comfortable 54.4 percent to 43.5 percent lead, Edison Research said.
Haley had hoped the northeastern state’s sizeable cadre of independent voters would carry her to an upset win that might loosen Trump’s iron grip on the Republican Party.
Instead, Trump became the first Republican to sweep competitive votes in both Iowa and New Hampshire since 1976, when the two states cemented their status as the first nominating contests.
The result would likely bolster some Republicans’ calls for Haley to drop out so the party can coalesce behind Trump.
Her campaign vowed in a memo earlier on Tuesday to push forward until “Super Tuesday” on March 5, when Republicans in 15 states and one territory vote.
Tuesday’s vote was the first one-on-one matchup between Trump and Haley, after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once seen as Trump’s most formidable challenger, dropped out on Sunday and endorsed Trump.
Meanwhile, Edison projected Biden, 81, the winner of the New Hampshire Democratic primary, brushing aside challenger, US Representative Dean Phillips.
Trump faces 91 criminal charges for a range of offenses, including his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat and his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021. He has denied any wrongdoing and claimed to be a victim of political persecution.
About 42 percent of voters who participated in the Republican primary said he would not be fit to serve if convicted in court, exit polling by Edison showed.
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