Former President Trump on Tuesday slammed Nikki Haley after defeating her in the New Hampshire primary, pressuring her only major rival for the Republican nomination to halt her campaign. .
“I have to say it was very funny, because I said, 'Wow, that's a win.' But at seven o'clock someone was running up to the stage, all dressed up, and now I'm walking up. It was 2 p.m.,'' Trump said, mocking Haley for speaking to supporters after the race was declared in her favor.
“Let's not give someone a win when she had a very bad night. She had a very bad night,” President Trump said.
He then added that he could not let the former United Nations ambassador “get away with a bullsh*t.”
“But I felt I should do this because I realized that in life, people can't let the cows get away,” he said. “You can't. And I saw her in her costume…I said, what is she doing? We won. And she did the same thing last week. “
The former president also slammed New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who campaigned in the state with Haley.
“This guy must be on to something. I've never seen anyone with so much energy. He's like hopscotch,” President Trump said. The mention of Sununu, who is popular among Granite supporters, drew surprisingly loud boos from the pro-Trump crowd.
At one point, the former president turned to Sen. Tim Scott, R.S., from Haley's home state, a former chief rival and Trump supporter.
“Have you ever thought about [about how] “She really appointed you, Tim? … And you're her state senator,” Trump said.
“You must really hate her,” Trump said. Scott, who stood behind President Trump with a big smile on his face, laughed as he took the podium.
“I just love you,” Scott said emphatically.
Immediately after the statewide polls closed at 8 p.m., Policy Desk Headquarters reported that Trump had an advantage in the precincts, with about half of the precincts giving Trump a lead of about 10 points.
In an interview with Fox News Digital after the campaign was called, Trump said Haley should stop campaigning.
“She should do that, because otherwise we're going to have to keep wasting money and not spending for Biden,” Trump told the show. “If she doesn't decline, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden. That's our focus.”
However, Haley made it clear in remarks after voting closed on Tuesday that she had no intention of withdrawing from the race despite the results.
“New Hampshire is the first in the nation. It won't be the last in the nation,” Haley told supporters. “This race isn't over yet.”
Following President Trump's remarks Tuesday night, Haley's campaign fired back at the former president.
“Two states are currently voting in the presidential election, and Donald Trump just barely won half of the votes. It's not exactly enthusiastic support for the former president demanding a coronation,” said Haley, communications director. said Nachama Soloveitchik. “His angry rants were full of frustration and communicated nothing to the American people about his vision for our country's future. This is why so many voters want to get out of President Trump's mess. That's why we're rallying behind a new generation of conservative leaders in Nikki Haley.”
But Trump appears to be on track to win the nomination. He is the only candidate running in the upcoming Nevada Republican caucuses, which will decide the state's delegate allocation. Haley instead chose to appear on the ballot in the state's primary election.
In her home state of South Carolina, where the Republican primary will be held on February 24, the former president has a comfortable lead over Haley. Trump has a 34-point lead over the former governor, according to the state's Decision Desk headquarters poll average.
Ms. Haley has fared better than Mr. Trump with the moderate independent voters the former president will likely need to win over in the general election against President Biden.
Contributed by Kate Martell.
Updated: 10:15pm ET
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