Former President Trump appears to be on track to win the Republican nomination after the first two primaries, but his wins in Iowa and New Hampshire come with warnings about potential vulnerability in the general election. It contained signs of.
In Iowa, nearly half of those who support Republican candidate Nikki Haley said they would vote for President Biden over President Trump in the general election.
Republican voters in New Hampshire have also expressed concern about Trump, with a CBS News poll finding that 47% of Republican primary voters want Trump to be convicted in one of his next four criminal trials. If so, they said they believe he is not qualified to serve as president.
The results showed that while Mr. Trump has a commanding hold within his own party, he is also engaging with independent voters, whose support he may need in the general election.
Dan Eberhart, a former donor to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and now a Trump supporter, said, “If independents are driven away by a slowly unfolding trial, it will be very difficult in November.'' We're going to be in a terrible situation,” he said.
Trump defeated former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley in New Hampshire by 11 points, but the victory was still not as big as most expected and showed how much of a boost Haley was boosted by the state's undeclared voters. .
According to ABC News exit polls, Haley won 60% of independent voters to Trump's 38%. The poll also found that Haley won 58% of college graduates and narrowly edged Trump among female voters, 49-48.
AP VoteCast data A New Hampshire poll found that about half of Republican voters are at least somewhat concerned that Trump is too extreme to win the general election.
The data highlighted the former president's weaknesses heading into the general election. There, Biden's campaign will have to do more than win the support of loyal Republicans, but the Biden campaign is focused on the November campaign and wanted to make that point. Up.
Biden's deputy Quentin Fawkes said, “While Trump has the united support of the MAGA base, the Republican primary is favored by key constituencies that will ultimately decide this November's election.'' “We have brought to light the clear and incontrovertible reality that we are struggling to achieve this goal.” campaign manager told reporters Wednesday.
Even Mr. DeSantis, who suspended his presidential campaign on Sunday, told conservative radio host Steve Diese that he had spoken to lifelong conservatives who had expressed that they did not want to vote for Mr. Trump in 2024. Ta.
“He's got to find a way to work it out. I think there's a problem with enthusiasm overall,” DeSantis said.
The Trump campaign and its allies have ignored much of the data from New Hampshire, saying Haley's strength with moderates and independent voters only highlights her weakness with actual Republicans. insisted.
“Nikki “Birdbrain” Haley will never win the general election because she will never win MAGA!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
The Trump campaign noted that the former president's approximately 170,000 votes in New Hampshire was a record total for a presidential primary for either party. The former president has never had much trouble mobilizing his base, winning overwhelmingly among self-identified Republicans in New Hampshire.
Mr. Trump and his aides also frequently highlight general election polls that show Mr. Biden leading both nationally and in key battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. , rejecting arguments against him regarding his chances of being elected.
“I take the NH exit polls with a grain of salt. I've lived in that state (New Hampshire) in the past and there are so many expats from Massachusetts there that I don't know what's real or what's real. It's hard to tell what's true or what's not,” said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell. “And it's not one of the six battleground states, and it has a 10-month political lifespan.”
Mr. Biden's team has a full 10 months to remind voters of Mr. Trump's obsession with revenge against his enemies and draw contrasts on crucial issues like abortion and the economy. . The longer Ms. Haley remains in her primary, the more Mr. Trump is likely to attack her and spend more time and money on a campaign aimed primarily at Republicans.
Everhart suggested time is of the essence for the former president, who wants to focus his attention on Biden and the general election.
“The longer it takes President Trump to remove Ms. Haley, the less time he has to focus solely on the general election,” he said.
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