Donald Trump wins in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley refuses to give up

From our correspondent in the United States,

It’s a vote for almost nothing. On Tuesday, Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary and cemented his status as the favorite to win the Republican nomination and challenge Joe Biden on November 5. But Nikki Haley did a little better than expected, especially by dominating her rival among independent voters – who will play a crucial role in November – and she insisted her campaign was “just the beginning”. Even though she says she wants to continue at least until Super Tuesday, which sees a third of the states vote on March 5, history is unequivocal: The candidate who wins Iowa and New Hampshire has always won the Republican Party nomination.

Trump wins head-to-head without killing the match

After Ron DeSantis dropped out, it was the first duel between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley. In this face-off, the former president won by about 11 points, with 55% of the vote to 44% for Haley, according to unofficial figures. The margin is twice as small as during his victory in 2016 against half a dozen candidates who split the anti-Trump vote.

“We’ve won New Hampshire three times now,” the former president said, chanting “USA, USA” in front of his supporters. He mocked Nikki Haley “for saying she needed to win but lost.” Flanked by former candidates Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump played the unification card and looks to pivot to his potential duel against Joe Biden.

The race is “just beginning,” Haley replies

Like a good politician, Nikki Haley was quick to speak as the counting began, when the margin was only 7 points. According to her, “the race has just begun”, and voters in South Carolina – of which she was governor – who will vote on February 24 “want not a coronation but an election”.

His problem is that no state will suit him as well as New Hampshire. According to polling estimates, about half of voters who cast ballots were independents, those who identified as neither Republicans nor Democrats, and Haley won nearly two out of three. Against him, Donald Trump crushed him among Republicans, with three out of four voting for him.

So Haley believes he is best positioned to defeat Biden. “Donald Trump’s nomination is synonymous with victory for Joe Biden and the presidency for Kamala Harris,” she said, stressing that the American president, who will turn 82 in November, will not complete a second. period

A Trump nomination almost assured

“Nikki Haley has done a little better in recent polls, but she’s losing”, estimates for 20 minutes Doug Hay, former spokesman for the Republican Party. According to him, “the party will continue to rally around Donald Trump, and there will be pressure on Haley to leave. »On Tuesday evening, the influential Republican Senator John Cornyn, who is far from a Trumpist, especially lined up behind the former president.

“Second place is the last place in the race,” says Brett Marson, a Republican consultant in Arizona. “There’s no logical reason for it to continue, but some people prefer suicide missions.”

What is certain is that Nikki Haley has enough money to keep her campaign going for a month. But if she doesn’t make it to the polls in South Carolina, she could throw in the towel before the end of February, and thus avoid the humiliation of losing at home.

Philip Barry