(New York) 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 shuttled Monday between campaign rallies and the courthouse in Manhattan, New York, where he was preparing to testify in the defamation lawsuit brought against him by an author, E .Jean Carroll, who accused him of rape and had him civilly convicted last May of sexual assault.
But one of the jurors showed symptoms of COVID-19 and the judge canceled the day’s hearing while Mr. Trump was present in Manhattan federal court.
He should then return to the campaign for the Republican primary in New Hampshire, a small state in the northeast, after one of his competitors, Mr. DeSantis, announced on Sunday that he was throwing in the towel and joining him for the presidential election in november.
“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.
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 handily 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 appointed ambassador to the UN in 2017, but who he ruled out could be his running mate.
“I know her very well. It’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 counterattacked 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.
PHOTO BRIAN SNYDER, REUTERS
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is Donald Trump’s only opponent in the race for the Republican nomination.
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 put 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.
Court 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 is awesome. I like what she stands for. I think she has a chance in New Hampshire,” she added, in a restaurant in Manchester, the state’s largest city.
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 provides a better indication of possible electoral success nationally, and sets the tone for upcoming 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 needed 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.