Trump beats Haley; Biden wins in New Hampshire: Recap

Americans for Prosperity Action, which endorsed Nikki Haley in the GOP primary, projected confidence about Haley in the Republican race in a statement on Tuesday, saying she was “closing the gap.”

“Tonight’s results in New Hampshire show that Nikki Haley is closing the gap and that she is the clear alternative for voters who are ready to close the book on the toxic Biden-Trump political era. This is still an uphill battle. Now all eyes turn to South Carolina, where she has a steeper road ahead,” Americans for Prosperity Action Senior Advisor Emily Seidel said in a statement.

“Our teams will continue talking to South Carolina voters in support of Nikki Haley,” she added. “We are laser focused on electing the candidates who can be the firewall preventing one party progressive rule of the federal government. We have three ways to win: the Senate, the House, and the presidential primary. Through our multi-pronged effort we are prepared to get this done.”

— Caroline Vakil

President Biden said it was apparent former President Trump will be the Republican nominee in light of the New Hampshire results.

“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,” Biden said in a statement. “Our economy — which has seen the strongest recovery in the world since COVID. All are at stake.”

Biden thanked supporters who wrote in his name in the Democratic primary, calling it a “historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process.”

“And I want to say to all those Independents and Republicans who share our commitment to core values of our nation — our Democracy, our personal freedoms, an economy that gives everyone a fair shot — to join us as Americans,” he added.

— Brett Samuels

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign announced on Tuesday that his campaign had gathered enough signatures in one day to make the general election ballot in New Hampshire.

State law requires presidential candidates to collect at least 3,000 signatures, including at least 1,500 in each of the state’s two congressional districts.

“I want to thank our dedicated supporters and volunteers who made this great accomplishment possible,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Democracy is much more than voting. I’m inspired by how enthusiastic people are to collect signatures, create new political parties, and rally for real change. This kind of energy is what will get us onto the ballot in every state and fuel our voter registration and GOTV operation as we head toward election day.”

— Caroline Vakil

The Haley campaign hit back against Donald Trump after the former president spent the bulk of his post-primary speech bashing Haley.

“Two states have now voted in the presidential race, and Donald Trump barely received half of the vote – not exactly a ringing endorsement for a former president demanding a coronation,” Haley communications director Nachama Soloveichik said in a statement.

“His angry rant was filled with grievances and offered the American people nothing about his vision for our country’s future,” Soloveichik added. “This is why so many voters want to move on from Trump’s chaos and are rallying to Nikki Haley’s new generation of conservative leadership.”

Trump tore into Haley in his remarks, complaining that she gave the impression she had a positive night despite losing the primary.

— Brett Samuels

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) became the latest GOP senator and Republican holdout to come out and endorse Donald Trump after the New Hampshire primary.

“It’s time for Republicans to unite around President Donald Trump and make Joe Biden a one-term President,” she said in a statement shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“These last three years have yielded a crippling border crisis, an inflationary economy that prices the American Dream out of reach for families, and a world in constant turmoil with our enemies on the march,” she continued. “I endorse Donald Trump for President so we can secure our border, get our economy moving again, and keep America safe.”

— Caroline Vakil

CNN cut away from former President Trump’s speech in New Hampshire on Tuesday night after he won the state’s primary election, solidifying his front runner status in the 2024 GOP nomination.

Noting that former GOP primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy served as “somewhat of a hype man” for Trump during his speech CNN anchor Jake Tapper said he hadn’t “seen anything like that since Bundini Brown,” making a reference to the famous trainer and ally of boxer  Muhammad Ali.

“I heard at least two or three things that need fact checking,” Tapper continued, introducing CNN fact checker Daniel Dale. “Obviously, Donald Trump did not win in 2020, he lost that election and that’s been adjudicated over and over again, although to the crowd he’s speaking to, they believe it even though it’s a lie.”

— Dominick Mastrangelo

The former president took the stage in Nashua at 9:20 p.m. local time at his campaign watch party.

Trump was joined on stage by his family, his campaign aides and former primary rivals Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

— Brett Samuels

Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.), a vulnerable New York House GOP member, announced on Tuesday after Donald Trump won the New Hampshire GOP primary that he would be backing the former president.

“President Trump will be the Republican nominee for president. Our country is under immense pressure—inflation, chaos at the border, sanctuary cities, fentanyl, cashless bail, crime, energy costs—we can’t endure 4 more years of Progressive fantasies, we need a Republican in the White House,” he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“And I have always said our nominee will have my full support to turn this country around,” he added.

Williams’s seat is rated by the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report as a “toss up.”

— Caroline Vakil

The Trump rally was filled with some of the former president’s most loyal supporters.  

“I trust him. I feel like he’s … one of us,” Sabrina Antle, a resident of Henniker N.H., told The Hill. “[He’s] not someone looking to gain a buck.” 

Antle, an undeclared voter, said she voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary, but then learned more about former President Trump and switched her support. She said she has been an ardent Trump supporter ever since. 

“This man goes against the grain. He’s not gonna back down and that’s what this country needs. We cannot just watch this country fall apart.” 

Steven and Julie Steiner drove from Conway, N.H., to see Trump tonight. They have been Trump supporters for years. Steven Steiner said he is most concerned about the border, mentioning that their son died of a drug overdose in 2001. 

“He did a lot for this country. He loves this country,” Steiner told The Hill. 

— Cate Martel

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), an ally of former President Trump, warned that Nikki Haley could damage her political career if she competed in South Carolina’s GOP primary.

“After tonight, the primary will be over,” Greene wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“If Nikki Haley decides to drag this out to South Carolina, her political career will be over too.. at least what’s left of it,” she added.

— Caroline Vakil

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley promised “this race is far from over” after former President Trump was projected to beat her in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday. 

“New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not the last in the nation. This is race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go,” Haley said in remarks after major outlets called the race in Trump’s favor. 

“Today, we got close to half of the vote. We still have a ways to go, but we keep moving up,” Haley said.  

Read more here.

— Julia Mueller

President Biden is projected to win the New Hampshire Democratic primary as a write-in candidate, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Biden’s win in New Hampshire dealt a blow to Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who launched a longshot bid to topple the president.

— Caroline Vakil

The former president told Fox News Digital shortly after New Hampshire was called in his favor that Nikki Haley should end her campaign.

“She should because, otherwise, we have to keep wasting money instead of spending on Biden,” Trump said. “If she doesn’t drop out, we have to waste money instead of spending it on Biden, which is our focus.” 

“The party is very united except for her,” Trump added.

Haley said in remarks to supporters she would remain in the race.

— Brett Samuels

President Biden’s reelection campaign on Tuesday said that Trump’s win in New Hampshire confirms that 2024 will be a 2020 rematch, touting that Biden is the only person to ever beat Trump.

“While we work toward November 2024, one thing is increasingly clear today: Donald Trump is headed straight into a general election matchup where he’ll face the only person to have ever beaten him at the ballot box: Joe Biden,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.

She argued that Trump’s agenda is extreme and has cost Republicans elections since his presidency, noting that he is “promising to undermine American democracy,” “reward the wealthy,” and “ban abortion nationwide.”

“Tonight’s results confirm Donald Trump has all but locked up the GOP nomination, and the election denying, anti-freedom MAGA movement has completed its takeover of the Republican Party,” she said.

— Alex Gangitano

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) became the third House member who previously backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP primary to throw their weight behind Donald Trump.

“After another overwhelming victory, it’s abundantly clear that the American people want Donald J. Trump to serve as President of the United States once again,” McCormick said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter after Trump won the New Hampshire primary.

“I am calling on my fellow conservatives to join me in uniting behind Donald Trump for President,” he added.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) was the first DeSantis supporter in the House to later back Trump in the primary, followed by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.).

— Caroline Vakil

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called on the Republican Party to unite behind former President Trump after he won New Hampshire primary Tuesday.

Johnson congratulated Trump on his “decisive victory” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Our House Republican leaders and a majority of Republican Senators support his reelection, and Republican voters in Iowa and New Hampshire have strongly backed him at the polls,” he said.

“It’s now past time for the Republican Party to unite around President Trump so we can focus on ending the disastrous Biden presidency and growing our majority in Congress,” he continued.

Johnson formally endorsed Trump for the nomination last November.

— Lauren Sforza

The Associated Press won’t refer to President Biden and former President Trump as the “presumptive” nominees until at least the spring.

“There often comes a time in modern presidential campaigns when the last bit of drama has been drained out of a party nomination fight and the crowning of the eventual standard-bearer seems like a foregone conclusion,” the news organization wrote Tuesday. “But we’re not there yet.”

The AP says it “only uses that term once a candidate has captured the number of delegates needed to win a majority vote at the national party conventions this summer.”

Trump was projected to win the New Hampshire primary Tuesday evening, which the AP was first to call among news organizations.

— Dominick Mastrangelo

Former President Trump needled Nikki Haley shortly after the primary was called in his favor.

“Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire. SHE DIDN’T!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

— Brett Samuels

Exit polls in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday showed a stark disparity between supporters of former President Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley on the 2020 election result.

About 80 percent of Trump voters said they don’t believe President Biden won the 2020 election, according to a CNN exit poll, while 83 percent of Haley voters said he did.

The exit poll exemplifies Trump’s strong pull among the most conservative voters, while Haley has relied on more moderates for her White House bid.

— Nick Robertson

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) leadership team, announced Tuesday that he was endorsing former President Trump after Trump won the New Hampshire GOP primary.

“I have seen enough. To beat Biden, Republicans need to unite around a single candidate, and it’s clear that President Trump is Republican voters’ choice,” Cornyn wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Four more years of failed domestic policies like the Biden Border Crisis and record-high inflation, and failed foreign policies that have emboldened our adversaries and made the world a more dangerous place, must be stopped,” he added.

— Caroline Vakil

Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC backing Trump’s 2024 bid, called on Nikki Haley to drop out of the race in light of the former president’s victory in New Hampshire.

“Nikki Haley said she’s running to stop the re-election of Harris-Biden. Yet, without a viable path to victory, every day she stays in this race is another day she delivers to the Harris-Biden campaign,” MAGA Inc. CEO Taylor Budowich said in a statement. “It’s time for unity, it’s time to take the fight to the Democrats, and for Nikki Haley: it’s time to drop out.”

— Brett Samuels

CNN and NBC News projected President Biden to win the Democratic primary in New Hampshire as a write-in candidate.

After tension between state and national Democrats over the party’s presidential nominating calendar, Biden didn’t file to be on the Granite State ballot.

But his supporters in the state pushed a write-in campaign to boost him to victory over his challengers — including Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) — in the unsanctioned primary.

— Julia Mueller

Former President Trump was projected to win the New Hampshire primary, according to Decision Desk HQ.

The last polls in the Granite State closed at 8 p.m.

— Julia Mueller

Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was booted from Congress in December, is at former President Trump’s Nashua, N.H., watch party.  

Santos was spotted at the bar at the Sheraton Nashua, mingling with folks and taking selfies.  

— Cate Martel

Former GOP presidential candidates Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and Vivek Ramaswamy are attending former President Trump’s victory party while Republicans await results in the New Hampshire GOP primary.

Both candidates dropped out of the primary, and both endorsed Trump after he won a resounding 30-point win in the Iowa GOP caucuses.

— Caroline Vakil

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who suspended his presidential campaign last week, was spotted at former President Trump’s watch party in Nashua, N.H. 

Ramaswamy, who endorsed Trump following his post-Iowa caucus departure, stood on the press risers for a media appearance. 

— Cate Martel

Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst at the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report, called it early for former President Trump in the GOP primary and President Biden as a write-in candidate on the Democratic side.

“I’ve seen enough: Pres. Joe Biden (D) wins the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary,” Wasserman wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“I’ve seen enough: Donald Trump (R) wins the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, defeating Nikki Haley (R),” Wasserman also wrote.

— Caroline Vakil

New Hampshire voters of all political stripes made their way to the polls Tuesday ahead of polls closing at 7 p.m. EST and predicted light snow.

“I do love watching the news and seeing them talking about how seriously we in New Hampshire take the primary,” said Elizabeth Hood, an undeclared voter in Manchester.

While many voters said they were excited about a particular candidate, many said they were voting for one candidate to block another, or voting for the lesser of two evils.

Ashley Gillett, an undeclared voter in Concord, said she cast her ballot for Haley on Tuesday because she believed she has the best chance of knocking Trump out. But in a general election, Gillett said she had other plans in the case of a Biden vs. Haley match-up.

“I wouldn’t vote for her in the general election,” Gillett said, adding that she would “absolutely” vote for Biden.

At that same Concord polling location, Democratic voter Patty Joyce-Narro said she wrote in Biden and lamented that Biden was not on the ballot amid the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s tension with the Democratic National Committee.

But when asked whether she was enthusiastic about Biden as a candidate, Joyce-Narro took a pause.

“That’s a tough one; I’ve thought a lot about that one,” she said. “So, I do think he’s a good candidate. I think he has the support behind him to run the country.”

Deirdre Potter, an undeclared voter in Concord, on the other hand, said former President Trump was the best candidate.

“I feel like we need a business leader,” she said. “I feel like the direction that the country is not necessarily where I want it to go.”

In nearby Manchester, Republican and undeclared voters told The Hill that New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s endorsement of Haley played a role in their decisions to vote for Haley.

“Even though I’m undeclared I’ve been a big Sununu fan throughout his time in office, and so his endorsement meant a lot to me,” Hood said.

Most polls in the Granite State have now closed as of 7 p.m. EST.

Polls in some parts of the state will remain open for one more hour. Results should start coming in shortly.

— Jared Gans

Trump took to social media in the final hours of voting to complain about independents being allowed to cast a ballot in the state’s GOP primary as those voters are expected to break toward Haley.

Trump called it “so ridiculous” that independents could vote in a party primary.

He also claimed Democrats could vote in the GOP race, though voters had to have changed their party identification months ago to either independent or Republican to be eligible to take a GOP ballot.

“But word is we are doing really well!!!” Trump added.

— Brett Samuels