NASHUA (New Hampshire). Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary and got his hands on the Republican nomination. It is the first time since 1976 that a Republican candidate has also won the Granite State after Iowa. The former president obtained (with 50% of the votes counted) 54.4% of the votes, trailing by almost 11 points his rival Nikki Haley, (43.6%) last of the remaining contenders in the race.
The former governor of South Carolina, however, claimed in the speech she gave to her supporters in Concord that “the race is far from over” and congratulated Trump on his victory. The polls on the eve of her vote showed her behind by a figure between 14 and 18 percent.
She then made an appointment in South Carolina, her home state where she was governor for 8 years until 2015, for the primaries on April 24th. Haley confirmed the line she has held so far and the need for a generational change, underlining that two octogenarians cannot stop the change the United States needs. «The party – she said, sparking applause from supporters – which is the first to give up nominating an eighty-year-old will win the elections. And that party must be the Republican one.”
He also underlined that “Trump is the only Republican who would not beat Biden today”, a president “incapable of making decisions”. Haley underlined the giant strides made by her campaign that began almost ten months ago: «At one point there were 14 candidates and I had 2%. Now we are the last ones left next to Trump. For me it’s not a personal matter, I voted for him twice, I supported many of his policies. But a nomination for him is a victory for Biden.”
For Donald Trump, however, «the race [delle primarie] it’s over” with the stop in New Hampshire. Before taking the stage in the ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel in Nashua, in the southern part of New Hampshire, the former president circulated a memo among supporters in which he claimed to be “the only person who can beat Biden” and that “With your help we will save America.”
The tycoon then lined up his entire team on stage, joined by his rivals from the primaries who withdrew and then supported him. His speech was very aggressive, the opposite of the conciliatory one he delivered after the Iowa caucuses. And also different from traditional victory speeches. He joked about Haley’s speech, who before him had spoken of a “triumphal night”; “It actually went very badly,” Donald Trump said. Then he sunk in: “If Nikki Haley won the nomination she would be investigated within fifteen minutes for little things she doesn’t want to talk about.” He then called Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott to speak, the latter was appointed senator by Haley in 2012. “You must hate her,” Trump told him. He replied: “I love Trump.” The speech was also riddled with errors and wrong claims. “Every time we win the primaries, we win the general elections,” thundered the former president, referring to New Hampshire, forgetting that both in 2016 and 2020 he was defeated by Hillary and Biden.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the 40-year-old biotech billionaire who retired after the Iowa caucuses and then sided with Trump, was in the room at the Sheraton yesterday. Commenting on the results he said: «What happened tonight says that the race is over».
Trump’s affirmation – halfway through the ballot – is clear, lower than the predictions of the weekend polls but still above 10% which allows little margin for a comeback. He won by different margins among all demographic groups: by age, between men and women, whites and minorities. And he clearly prevailed (two out of 3 voters) among people without a qualification; while Haley won by the same ratio among those with a college degree.
One of the most interesting data, which Trump’s staff is still called upon to discuss, is the 66% of “unaffiliated” people (i.e. those who have not declared themselves Republicans) who sided with Nikki Haley. It is a sign that Donald’s ability to win over moderate voters currently remains lower than expected. Dante J. Scala, professor of political science at New Hampshire University, in an interview with La Stampa underlined how Trump’s difficulties in uniting the Republican Party could be the real handicap in view of the probable duel with Biden.
On the Democratic front, Biden’s success should be noted. He was not present on the ballot, his supporters resorted to the write-in method: halfway through the ballot Biden had 74% against Dean Phillips’ 21%. “I’m not retiring,” said the Minnesota congressman.
Both Biden and Trump are looking to the November duel. The president has defined Trump as “the Republican candidate” and T-shirts with the words “Together we will defeat Trump” are on sale in campaign stores. Still”. Trump has yet to win the nomination. Haley doesn’t retreat and the race continues for now. Meanwhile with the Nevada caucuses on February 8th then with the duel in South Carolina on February 24th.