The mainstream media appears to have got the message from the 'uniparty' - Nikki Haley is our gal. The neocon's recently improving trend in New Hampshire Republican Primary polls has sparked a wave of supportive headlines (and anti-Trump sub-texts) pushing Haley as the last, best hope for bringing down the advance of 'literal Hitler' to become the Republican candidate and into The White House.
“We always wanted to be strong in Iowa and even stronger in New Hampshire, and we’re on track to do that,” Haley Campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, told reporters at a luncheon hosted by Bloomberg News in Manchester.
“Beating Donald Trump is not easy. He’s a juggernaut. But how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” she said.
But although she’s shot up 30 points over four months in the Granite State, she still trails Trump by nearly 16 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
But that won't stop the media trying...
Here's Bloomberg today - running three separate stories within hours of each other about how great Haley is doing...
Trump at a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, on Friday evening said Haley was “OK” when serving as his UN ambassador but did not have “presidential” material.
“Now when I say that, that probably means that she’s not going to be chosen as the vice president,” Trump said, adding that:
“She’s not tough enough. She’s not smart enough. And she wasn’t respected enough. She cannot do this job. She’s not going to be able to deal with President Xi. She’s not going to be able to deal with Putin and Kim Jong Un."
The war of words continued as Haley accused the Republican frontrunner of “telling a whole lot of lies.”
“If he’s gonna lie about me, I’m gonna tell the truth about him,” she added.
But, much to the chagrin of the media's recent fixation on Haley, Trump has expanded his nationwide lead among Republican voters...
But Washington is not giving up in their OrangeManBad efforts.
Echoing warnings that Vivek Ramaswamy recently issued, Tucker Carlson laid out the potential 'cunning' plan underway to push Washington's favorite heel-wearer over the 'Orange Tyrant'.
In Iowa - before he ended his presidential primary run - Ramaswamy warned that the current system "wants to narrow us down to a two-horse race between Donald Trump and a puppet who they can control," namely Nikki Haley.
Carlson extends the thinking...
Tucker is saying exactly what Vivek has been warning us about. If this happens, don't blame democrats. Blame trump voters for ignoring the warning. pic.twitter.com/UDvhotjmtI
— Publius Americanus (@aka_Sulla) January 19, 2024
As Ron Faucheux writes at RealClearPolitics, there is one fragile, complicated scenario that gives Haley (or DeSantis) a glimmer of hope – and that’s if the dynamics of the race change because of a Trump conviction.
The first step, they believe, is for Haley or DeSantis to quickly become the “last woman (man) standing” against Trump, and to consolidate Republican voters who are resistant to supporting the former president. While that bloc of votes – three out of 10 – isn’t enough to win the nomination, it could add up to decent showings in a few key states. And that, they think, would keep their campaigns on life-support while waiting for the big break.
The big break is entirely out of the control of either Haley or DeSantis – and that’s a Trump guilty verdict, one that resets the race. The problem is that there may not be a verdict in time. Even if there is, it may not be guilty, and even if it’s guilty, it may not reset the race.
If there is a guilty verdict before the July convention, the Trump resistance could try to release delegates from their earlier commitments. It’s possible some Trump delegates would rethink their support for him if, as a convicted felon, he no longer appeared to be electable in November. But rest assured, Trump’s hardcore supporters would hit the barricades to stop such a maneuver.
This scenario may be a vanishing star for Haley and DeSantis to wish upon, but it is effectively the strategic underpinning of their current campaigns; it’s all they have left.
But, it won't be easy.
Despite Haley reportedly spending $4 million on an advertising campaign in her home state of South Carolina, JustTheNews reports that Tony Fabrizio, a Trump-aligned pollster on Friday, circulated a private memo including survey results that showed Trump ahead of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley by 39%, The Hill reported.
Trump claimed 64% support in the survey, while Haley claimed 25% and Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis earned 8% support.
"President Trump is set to deliver a South Carolina smackdown to Nikki Haley in her home state where she is best known," Fabrizio said of the poll results.
News of Trump's lead in South Carolina comes after South Carolina GOP Sen. Tim Scott endorsed Trump on Friday evening - a direct blow to Haley who appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012.
“We need a president who understands that the American people are sick and tired about being sick and tired,” Scott said, joining Trump at his rally. “We need a president our foreign adversaries are afraid of and our allies respect.”
Scott is now the third major candidate who previously ran for the 2024 Republican nomination to back Trump.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also joined Trump in recent days to throw their support behind him.
Trump told supporters Friday evening that New Hampshire “could end it.”
“We’ll finish it off,” he said. “And then we can focus on the worst president,” he added, looking ahead to a likely rematch with Joe Biden.
