Rom DeSantis, governor of California and the politician who at the time seemed to be the alternative to the unpredictable Donald Trump for the Republican candidacy, threw in the towel yesterday after calibrating the supports and noting the lack of funds to continue in the race for the nomination. DeSantis simply asked, through the X network, to vote for Trump.
DeSantis was the politician most similar to Trump himself. He shared the same social proposals, in some of which he was even more radical. However, he lacked the loquacity and treachery that have made the ex-president unique. His abandonment after the Iowa caucuses, without waiting for the New Hampshire primary, which is held on Tuesday, indicates the extent to which Florida is aware of Trump’s overwhelming power over the Republican party. With her abandonment, Nikki Haley is left as the only contender in a race that began only a few days ago.
All eyes are now on what might happen in New Hampshire. In this state, less Trumpist and conservative, the former US ambassador to the UN, Haley, has more options to beat Trump. In fact, it will be his great litmus test of the Republican contest. The latest polls place her about 14 points behind the former president, with 34.2% of the intention to vote.
Buoyed by the numbers, Haley last week stepped up her attacks on the tycoon. “The majority of Americans do not want to have to choose between two octogenarians who are running for the White House”, he declared on Tuesday in Bretton Woods (New Hampshire), ensuring that the lucidity of the former president and Joe Biden are ” in decline”. “We cannot have a person who we question if he is really fit for the pressures of the presidency”, he reiterated in another event held on Saturday in Keene, “we need a generational change”.
In the speech, Haley accused Trump of dishonesty and criticized ties to “dictators”: she said he is “having an affair” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who exchanges “love letters” with North Korea’s Kim Jong- one, and accused him of praising the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, “after China gave us covid”. They are, by far, the most direct attacks he has launched against him in the entire campaign, in which he has rarely mentioned the pending accounts with justice, which accuses him of 91 serious crimes in four different criminal proceedings.
True to his style manual, Trump made a racist taunt at Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, by laughing at her name (Nimarata), calling her first Nimrada and then Nimbra in two posts on his social network , Social Truth. “Haley lacks presidential wood,” he said Friday, in a campaign speech in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire, “so I probably won’t choose her as my vice president.”
“I know her very well. She’s not tough enough, not smart enough, not respected enough. She is not fit for this job”, he assured in a speech full of contempt for Haley, who was part of his administration in 2017 as ambassador to the UN. “He will not be able to deal with President Xi. He cannot deal with Putin.” In addition, the tycoon said that Haley “has the votes of Democrats and progressives, which will infiltrate the Republican primaries.” However, voters registered as Democrats in New Hampshire cannot vote in the Republican primary, although independents can.
In another speech on Saturday in Manchester, New Hampshire’s most populous city, Trump appeared surrounded by leaders from Haley’s home state and of which she was governor, South Carolina, which will hold primaries on February 24. He was accompanied by the current governor, Henry McMaster, as well as the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the treasurer, the speaker of the state lower house and several southern state representatives in the United States Congress. “Almost all the politicians in South Carolina support me,” celebrated the former president.
Of all, the most relevant support is that of Senator Tim Scott, who was a candidate for the presidency, but withdrew in November due to lack of support. He has followed the same path as Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson, who announced the end of their campaigns after disappointing results in the Iowa caucuses. All preceded DeSantis’ departure as he checked off low expectations.
In the Republican primaries of New Hampshire, citizens registered as independents can vote, which is 40% in the northeastern state of the country. While the Republican base is clearly aligned with Trump, Haley is counting on the support of these more moderate voters to pull off the upset. With an intense campaign, he has won the support of the governor, Republican Chris Sununu, but his options are still very limited.
Democrats are also holding primaries on Tuesday, although they will do so at odds with the Democratic National Committee, which decided last year to begin its election cycle in South Carolina on February 3. As a result, Biden’s name will not appear on the ballot, so Democrats who want to vote for him will have to write his name by hand.
This will give a chance to rivals, congressman Dean Phillips and writer Marianne Williamson, who have slim chances of unseating him for the Democratic nomination, since together they do not reach 10% of the intention to vote nationally. As usual, the incumbent president running for re-election has no firm alternatives to his primary process.
