Donald Trump and Nikki Haley Ramp Up Attacks Heading into Final Weekend Before New Hampshire Primary

Donald Trump leads Nikki Haley in recent polling, while Ron DeSantis trails far behind in third place.

Summary

Former President Donald Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley intensified their criticisms of each other ahead of a final weekend of campaigning before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday. Trump leads Haley in recent polling, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trails far behind.

• Trump leads Haley by 52% to 35% in the latest Boston Globe/NBC-10/Suffolk poll of New Hampshire Republicans, a 17-point margin. The most recent St. Anselm poll found a similar 14-point gap, with Trump ahead by 52% to 38%. DeSantis polled at 6% in both surveys.
• About 87% of voters in the Boston Globe survey said they were “not at all” or “not very” likely to change their vote before Tuesday.
• Trump has repeatedly attacked Haley on Truth Social over her qualifications for the presidency, calling her a “disaster,” and by mocking her first name, Nimarata. Trump called her “Nimbra,” in a Truth Social post, an apparent reference to her first name. Haley uses her middle name, Nikki.
• Trump’s campaign has reportedly stepped up its efforts to bring over Haley donors and called into question whether her heritage would make her ineligible to be president. Haley was born in South Carolina to two Indian immigrants.
• Haley said Trump’s decision to spread birther conspiracy theories about her is “what he does when he feels threatened, that’s what he does when he feels insecure” at a CNN town hall on Thursday.
• “I know that I am a threat. I know that’s why he’s doing that, so it’s not going to waste any energy from me,” Haley added. “I’m going to continue to focus on the things that people want to talk about and not get into the name-calling back with him.”

• The Washington Post reported on Trump’s efforts to counter Haley’s criticisms about his age. The 77-year-old former president “boasted about the results of his cognitive test” at a campaign event on Wednesday and spent much of his speech talking about how young and fit he felt in an apparent response to Haley’s attacks.
• According to the New York Times, the “consensus” that’s emerged at the World Economic Forum conference at Davos is that “Trump will win re-election.” Global business leaders at Davos told the Times that “they expect Donald Trump to win and while many are worried about that, they are also resigned to it.”
• Vox’s Ben Jacobs covered the “messy” Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, where Biden won’t even be on the ballot. Dark horse candidate Dean Phillips, a Congressman from Minnesota, is hoping to exceed expectations and “crash Joe Biden’s party.”

• The Washington Examiner assessed how DeSantis’ “choice to refocus his campaign operation on building support in South Carolina, effectively accepting a third-place finish in New Hampshire, could end up assisting former President Donald Trump” as he is the second choice of many DeSantis supporters.
• Breitbart observed Gov. Chris Sununu, a prominent Haley supporter, is already predicting Haley will lose in New Hampshire. Sununu said recently that Haley would finish a “strong second” in the Granite State, a shift from his previous claims that she would “defeat” Trump in his state.
• National Review’s Luther Ray Abel argued that “Biden had best pray that Trump makes it out of New Hampshire with a win that buries Haley, because she would eat Biden’s lunch (mushy peas) in the general election.” He concluded, “Haley’s ability to appear competent and earnest in front of any and every audience would match too well against Biden’s swings from doddering to umbrage and back again.”

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© Dominic Moore, 2023