MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former President Trump easily won the Iowa caucuses last week and is leading nearly every New Hampshire poll gearing up to Tuesday’s primary, but in an arena filled with fired-up loyalists in the Granite State on Saturday, all he wanted to discuss was his GOP rival, Nikki Haley.
“Nikki Haley, I know well. Sadly, she’s made an unholy alliance with the RHINOS, the never-Trumpers … the globalists, the radical left communists,” Trump said, slamming the former U.N. ambassador while he was surrounded by roughly 5,000 supporters who stood outside in 14-degree weather to see him.
In recent days, Trump has been hurling insults at Haley, who has been steadily closing the gap in New Hampshire. In the past two months, she cut Trump’s lead in the state by half. Trump has an 11 percent lead in the Granite State, according to The Hill and Decision Desk HQ’s polling average. Two months ago, he had a 22-point lead.
“Nikki Haley is using radical Democrat money to fund the radical Democrat campaign operation that she’s running,” Trump told supporters during the Saturday rally.
In an effort to especially irk Haley, Trump invited several politicians from her home state, including Gov. Henry McMaster (R), to join him on stage.
“Almost every politician from the state of South Carolina is endorsing me,” Trump said as a slight to Haley, who is a former governor of the state. South Carolina is also next major contest after New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.
In addition to the Palmetto State politicians on stage, Trump also secured the endorsement of her home state’s senator, Tim Scott (R-S.C.), on Friday. Haley nominated Scott to the Senate when she was governor and lobbied for his endorsement when he dropped out of the 2024 GOP presidential race.
These attacks haven’t been one-sided. Haley has dropped her reluctance to criticize her former boss and has ramped up attacks on the former president in recent days.
“The reality is who lost the House for us? Who lost the Senate? Who lost the White House? Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump,” Haley said Thursday.
Tuesday’s primary is a critical moment for both Haley and Trump. If Haley can pull off a win — or a close second-place finish — in the Granite State, it could threaten Trump’s front-runner status for the GOP presidential nomination.