Manchester (agencies)
Donald Trump aims to ensure that he wins the presidential nomination for the Republican Party after the race became limited to only two candidates following the withdrawal of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ahead of the expected primary elections in New Hampshire today.
DeSantis' move would accelerate Trump's receipt of the party's nomination to compete with President Joe Biden in November, as he is unlikely to be defeated in the state or even for his only competitor, Nikki Haley, to come in second place with a small margin between them.
The former president achieved a major victory over DeSantis in Iowa last week, while Haley came in third place, noting that no candidate throughout history has failed to obtain the Republican Party nomination after winning the first two states.
This makes New Hampshire crucial for Haley, who was Trump's delegate to the United Nations and is trailing the former president in polls in the state, where she had expected her best performance. Trump, 77, intensified his attacks on Haley over the past week, describing her as “not smart enough,” and noting that she did not gain the appreciation of voters.
He attacked her again on Sunday while praising DeSantis, whom he described as a “person with high potential,” while the governor accepted his support in front of a crowd of his supporters.
“Without the support, I think we would have gotten all these votes,” he said to warm applause at his campaign headquarters in Manchester. “Because we have very similar policies – strong borders, excellent education, low taxes, minimal rules – these are things that Haley doesn't really talk about because she is a globalist.”
With DeSantis out of the way, Haley is seeking to rely on the large percentage of independents in New Hampshire who are allowed to vote in the primaries of either party and usually choose more moderate candidates, to take advantage of what analysts see as her last chance.
But the challenge is difficult, as she lags behind Trump by 15 points, according to poll averages issued by “RealClearPolitics” and “FiveThirtyEight,” while it seems that the momentum she has recently gained has stopped.
However, if Haley's performance exceeds expectations, she could regain her position as a real threat to the former president before heading to her home state of South Carolina in late February.
New Hampshire represents a small victory within the larger picture, as it only determines 22 of the 2,429 delegates who will name the candidate during the Republican convention in Milwaukee expected in July.
But it is a more reliable indicator of electoral success nationwide than it is for more conservative states, and is seen as determining what future electoral processes will be like.
Voting on “Super Tuesday,” corresponding to March 5, when the competition is for 874 delegates, can contribute to getting the candidate to go 75% of the way to reaching the total number required to win the nomination.
Trump's aides expect him to be in a position to decide the race a week later, and they want his nomination to be secure by April, before any of his many criminal trials begin.
Democrats will hold their own primary elections in New Hampshire on the same day as Republicans, but Biden's name is not on the list of candidates after local officials disagreed with the party over the date. His supporters say that they will vote for him anyway, as they will write his name in the hope that he will be able to defeat Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips and writer Marianne Williamson. The result will not affect the nomination process, as the Democratic National Committee declared the New Hampshire primary elections illegal, while the president is expected to win the nomination ticket easily.
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