EPPING, N.H. – Presidential candidate Nikki Haley doesn't expect an upset against her rival Donald Trump in New Hampshire days before Tuesday's primary, Bitt said, adding that she doesn't expect an upset in New Hampshire against rival Donald Trump just days before Tuesday's primary. He said he hopes to become “stronger” than he was then.
“We wanted to be strong in Iowa. We did that. We started at 2% and finished at 20%,” Haley told the Post during a campaign stop Sunday afternoon.
“We want to be stronger than that in New Hampshire, and we want to be even stronger than that in South Carolina,” the former U.N. ambassador added.
“We'll find out on Election Day what is 'stronger' and what is 'stronger,' but that's the goal. That's always been the goal.”
Haley leads Trump by an average of 15 points in the Granite State, 50.3% to 35.3%, according to RealClearPolitics.
The gap is the closest a candidate has come to matching the former president in months, but may be influenced by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' withdrawal from the race on Sunday, shortly after Haley's remarks.
Haley's campaign has long maintained that the 2024 race is between her and Trump, even after finishing third in Iowa. Her campaign also emphasizes that he will be successful if he builds enough “momentum” in some of the early states.
But her comments Sunday appear to have lowered expectations expressed by her top supporters in New Hampshire.
On January 3, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu was confident he could beat Trump to first place in the primary. In recent days, Sununu has also retreated.
“She doesn't need to win. I mean, nobody goes from single digits in December to absolutely having to win in January,” the New Hampshire governor said Sunday on NBC's “Meet the・Press”
Sununu told reporters at Hayley's Epping that the key to winning the nomination remains winning over voters and defeating Trump.
“If we wait for legal issues or something from the outside to bring down Donald Trump, it's not going to happen,” he said. “We beat him at the ballot box, that's democracy. Voters need to decide whether to move on, and they will. More and more people are joining the team with Nikki Haley every day. Masu.”
Ms. Haley has maintained steady momentum in New Hampshire in recent months as she has prioritized independence-oriented states with messaging and frequent campaign stops.
That number appears to be growing, as her audiences fill auditoriums and other venues across the state. But the number of participants still pales in comparison to large rallies like the one Mr. Trump held Saturday night.
Some Haley supporters are hopeful she can get the numbers to beat Trump on Tuesday.
Carol Alfano, a Hailey voter from Exeter, New Hampshire, said she thinks the former South Carolina governor has a good chance of winning given the “number of undeclared voters who can vote Republican.”
“She definitely has a chance,” Alfano told the Post.
Nevada is the second most voting state after New Hampshire, with primaries and caucuses held several days apart. Haley is the only front-runner left in the race who registered for the primary, and because she will not be running against Trump in her caucus, she is not eligible for delegates.
During her campaign stop in Epping, Haley defended her decision to participate in the primary.
“Talk to the people of Nevada, and they'll tell you their caucuses have been locked down, bribed and paid for for a long time,” she told reporters. “And that's why we got into the primaries, but we know it's kind of — I mean the caucuses are what it is — and these are the Those who were involved and tried to stop it, but that's the Trump train that's going to pass. That too, but we're going to focus on the fair states.”
According to RCP, in Haley's home state of South Carolina, Trump's average approval rating is 50.0%, compared to 21.8%. The former president also enjoys significantly more support in the first southern state.
At a campaign rally on Saturday, President Trump called prominent supporters to the stage, including South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, to slam the lack of local support.
In her Epping campaign stop, Haley said she “doesn't want” support from South Carolina legislators because she fought against them when she was governor.
“I pushed back against them when I was governor. I forced them to put their votes on the record and show they weren’t hiding with voice votes. I forced them to pass ethics reforms they didn’t want. ,” Haley claimed.
