Former President Donald Trump took another step toward the Republican presidential nomination with his decisive win in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday. But his last remaining opponent, Nikki Haley, says she’s still staying in the race.
“You know we’ve won New Hampshire three times now. Three!” Trump announced on Tuesday night.
Trump’s New Hampshire win comes on the heels of his big victory in Iowa, so he’s well on his way to winning a third consecutive GOP presidential nomination. And he’s throwing heat at his only real remaining rival.
“I can go up and I can say to everybody and say, ‘Oh thank you for the victory oh thank you,’ or I can go up and say, ‘Who the h*** was the imposter that went up on the stage before and claimed a victory.’ She did very poorly actually,” Trump said.
Haley, who was Trump’s UN Ambassador, is the only major GOP challenger still standing in Trump’s way, and while she made gains with voters in New Hampshire, she still came up short.
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“I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight. He earned it and I want to acknowledge that. Now you’ve all heard the chatter among the political class, they’re falling all over themselves saying it’s over,” she said. “This race is far from over! There are dozens of states left to go!”
While Haley plans on sticking around, Trump ramped up his attacks on her as the candidates turn their focus to Nevada and then South Carolina where Haley is a former governor.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott joined Trump on stage at his New Hampshire victory speech Tuesday night. Scott is backing Trump even though Haley appointed him to his Senate seat.
“You must really hate her…” Trump said to Scott during his victory speech.
“I just love you!” Scott interjected.
“That’s why he’s a great politician,” Trump said.
The early exit polls paint the picture of Trump having a strong grip on the party. He dominated with registered Republicans 3 to 1.
But Haley dominated with independent and unregistered voters 2 to 1 – a case she’s been making if Trump becomes the nominee.
“The worst kept secret in politics is how badly the Democrats want to run against Donald Trump. They know Trump is the only Republican in the country who Joe Biden can defeat,” she said.
President Biden’s reelection campaign doesn’t seem to think there’s any doubt who he’ll be facing in the general election. They released a statement saying it’s clear Trump will be the Republican nominee and the stakes for the election could not be higher. Trump and Haley now set their sights on South Carolina and the state’s primary on February 24th.