Minutes after the last polls closed at 8 p.m. in the New Hampshire Republican primary on Tuesday night, Fox News projected former President Donald Trump as the winner. Yet, 10 minutes later, former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley delivered what sounded an awful lot like a victory speech to her supporters. One would be forgiven for thinking that she had won the primary.
At the time, Trump was ahead by 7 points with roughly 30% of the votes counted. He finished with an 11 point margin. Considering that polls showed Haley trailing Trump by up to 20%, she had outperformed expectations and come close enough to justify to herself – and perhaps to some donors – staying in the race.
“At one point in this campaign, there were 14 of us running. And we were at 2% in the polls,” a beaming Haley told the crowd. “Well, I’m a fighter. And I’m scrappy. And now we’re the last one standing next to Donald Trump.” She went on to deliver her most scathing attack ever on Trump, citing his advanced age, his negativity, and the chaos he creates.
Her delusionary remarks weren’t lost on Trump. Referring to Haley in his victory speech, he said, “[Y]ou can’t let people get away with bullsh**. Okay, you can’t. You just can’t do that. When I watched her, the fancy dress, it probably wasn’t so fancy. I said, what is she doing? We won.”
In any case, the fact remains that Haley finished last in both Iowa and New Hampshire. And Trump won both contests, achieving a record-setting victory in Iowa and winning New Hampshire by double digits. Reacting to Trump’s win in the Granite State, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, “The general election begins today. No one has won both Iowa and New Hampshire before and not been the nominee. And no one from our party has lost both those states and won the nomination.”
In her state of exhilaration, Haley forgot that New Hampshire is about as good as it gets for her. For Trump, it was the most unfavorable state. First, her campaign and affiliated PACs outspent the former president and Trump-allied groups by 2 to 1 in the state. Second, Haley spent a lot of time campaigning there over the past year. She was endorsed by New Hampshire’s wildly popular governor, Chris Sununu, who has become a fixture at her campaign events. Additionally, always looking for ways to undermine Trump, legacy media coverage has been extremely favorable to Haley.
But perhaps most significant of all, evidence shows that a number of Democrats who will ultimately cast their ballots for President Joe Biden in November voted for Haley to sabotage Trump.
In the video below, a young man named Christian explained his vote for Haley to an MSNBC reporter: “[A] vote for Nikki Haley helps diminish Trump’s influence.”
The reporter told viewers, “And Christian is emblematic of so many conversations I had throughout the day.”
MSNBC interviews yet ANOTHER Nikki Haley primary voter in New Hampshire who will NOT vote Republican in the general election. Listen to the reporter's sign off:
"And Christian is emblematic of so many conversations I had throughout the day." pic.twitter.com/6CKVducECj
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 24, 2024
In another clip, a voter told CNN he voted for Haley because it would hurt Trump.
🚨SMOKING GUN: CNN has a New Hampshire voter who is voting for Nikki Haley in the GOP primary and will switch his vote to Joe Biden in the general election.
This is an OUTRAGE. This must be fixed immediately. pic.twitter.com/jcRb3gf4Sh
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 24, 2024
The former two-term South Carolina governor heads next to her home state where she trails Trump by 30 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Does she really want to risk humiliation in South Carolina?
Reacting to Haley’s speech on CNN, former Obama campaign manager David Axelrod said,”I feel for her. … The fact is when you set out to win a primary and you don’t win, it’s hard to spin it into a victory, and you can’t keep doing it. In Iowa she was going to finish second, she finished third. In New Hampshire, she was going to win.”
He continued, “I really question whether she really ultimately wants to go forward to South Carolina and put her popularity to the test in her home state. I’m wondering whether her supporters and financiers and donors are going to want to do that too. I think the handwriting is on the wall.”
Nationally, Trump is nearly 55 points ahead of Haley in the RCP average of polls. The polls include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose exit from the race is more likely to help Trump than Haley.
In short, it’s clear Haley took the wrong message from the results in New Hampshire. ABC News summed it up correctly in a post-primary report: “If Haley couldn’t win New Hampshire, she probably won’t win anywhere.”
A previous version of this article appeared in the Washington Examiner.
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