Donald Trump has won the Republican primary in New Hampshire with 54.2 per cent of the vote.
His rival, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley had spent significant time and resources on campaigning in the state but came up short with 43.7 per cent.
In a combative victory speech, Trump said: “She’s doing, like, a speech like she won. She didn’t win. She lost… She had a very bad night.”
Referring to the recent Iowa primary, he added: “Ron [DeSantis] came in second and he left. She [Haley] came in third and she’s still hanging around.”
Haley, taking a less aggressive approach as she tries to contrast herself to her fire and brimstone opponent, congratulated Trump saying “he earned it”.
Speaking to her fans in Concord, she said: “New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not the last in the nation. This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go, and the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina. This race is far from over. I’m a fighter and I’m scrappy.”
Indeed, the South Carolina primary next month will be the true test of Haley – if she loses the state she used to govern, it’s hard to see how her campaign continues.
Trump’s victory solidifies his position as the strong favourite to be the Republican candidate in November’s presidential elections.
Alarm bells were ringing in Washington DC. President Joe Biden said: “It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher. Our Democracy. Our personal freedoms – from the right to choose to the right to vote. Our economy – which has seen the strongest recovery in the world since COVID. All are at stake.”
Biden won in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire despite not being on the ballot – his supporters wrote his name anyway. Due to new party rules that Biden pushed for, New Hampshire does not send delegates to the national convention which ultimately decides the candidate.
All eyes now turn to South Carolina next month.
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