Trump cruises to Republican nomination – 01/17/2024 at 07:44

The day after scoring a landslide victory in the Iowa primary, Donald Trump on Tuesday began courting voters in New Hampshire, a small state in the Northeast where, starting next week, he hopes to take another step toward the Republican nomination.

The former president entered a crowded room on Tuesday evening in the town of Atkinson, welcomed by his supporters who braved the snow and some waited all day.

On stage next to him, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the nomination race on Monday and sided with Donald Trump, gave a fiery speech in his honor.

Donald Trump praised “hard-working American patriots” and congratulated himself on his old win in Iowa, the “greatest” ever.

In fact, the 77-year-old businessman has taken a giant step towards a new November duel with Joe Biden for the White House, after winning 98 of Iowa's 99 precincts on Monday.

-Nikki Hailey Boo-

With 51% of the vote, the former president largely outperformed two of the strongest contenders in the primary: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

In New Hampshire, the Republican primary scheduled for January 23 will be open to voters who do not belong to either party, which could benefit a candidate seen as more centrist like Nikki Haley.

“Nikki Haley is particularly counting on Democrats and liberals to break through the GOP primaries,” Donald Trump said on stage Tuesday, with Vivek Ramaswamy even going so far as to boo the candidate.

“If she wins, Biden wins,” the former president said.

“I'm fighting Trump,” Nikki Haley declared on Monday, saying she was not that worried about the Florida governor. Ron DeSantis, who has hard-line positions on immigration and abortion, came in second place in Iowa, far ahead of Donald Trump, who received 21% of the vote.

The contest for the Republican nomination is scheduled to officially end in July at the Conservative Convention, but if the former president wins again in New Hampshire, it will become very difficult for both Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis to actually stay in the race.

– court –

The fact remains that this campaign will not be easy for the big favorite. Donald Trump, charged in four criminal cases, will have to juggle campaign events and legal meetings in the coming months.

Earlier Tuesday, the former president attended the opening of the defamation trial in New York, brought by an author whom he had already convicted in civil court last year of sexual assault.

He, who promised his supporters “revenge” against them for the 2020 elections, the results of which he never acknowledged and who intends to use the courtrooms in his campaign, announced his intention to return there on Wednesday morning.

Although the prosecution against him put him at risk of prison, it did not serve him well in Iowa. What will happen in New Hampshire? The country is considered more moderate.

– Neither –

The incumbent president, whose campaign is struggling to get off the ground, is counting on the influence of a decline from his major Republican rival among independent voters, which is increasing as the presidential election approaches.

“We have to work harder now. If Donald Trump is our opponent, we should expect petty attacks, endless lies, and extravagant spending,” Joe Biden wrote in an email on Tuesday seeking donations for his election race. Financial records.

“I'm still the only person to beat Donald Trump and I can't wait to do it again,” he said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The 81-year-old Democrat faces little competition for his party's nomination, which will be decided next August, despite the negative influence of his age among American voters.

The vast majority of concerned voters say they do not want a new duel between the octogenarian president and his seventy-year-old predecessor. But unless there's a big surprise or serious health incident for one or the other between now and the fall, they won't get away with it.