Nikki Haley has lost, with the ground slowly shifting beneath her feet, but in front of her supporters, gathered in Concord, New Hampshire, she spoke as if the future belonged to her. On Tuesday, January 23, even before the polls closed in this state, Donald Trump's victory in the second Republican primary was confirmed. The margin was a comfortable 11%. A week after Iowa, the former president succeeded in his bid in the state most favorable to his rival, where she won the support of many moderate, non-affiliated voters.
"This race is far from over," Haley wants to believe, adding, "There are dozens of states left to go." Her refusal to lay down her arms angered Trump. Instead of thanking voters and looking to the future, the former president devoted most of his own speech to denigrating Haley, commenting on both her dress and her audacity. "Who the hell was the impostor that went up on stage and claimed a victory?" he asked, bitter and vindictive. It was a far cry from the falsely magnanimous calls for Republican unity heard during election night in Iowa.
The former governor of South Carolina has denied him a "coronation" at this stage. But does she really intend to expose herself to a possible humiliation in her own state on February 24, after the Nevada election, projected to be won by her rival in early February? On Tuesday, Haley's speech outlined her future, sharper attacks. "The worst kept secret in politics is how badly the Democrats want to run against Donald Trump. A Trump nomination is a Biden win and a Kamala Harris presidency," she declared.
The former UN ambassador once again called for a debate with the front-runner – which he refused – recalling the "vulnerability" Trump shares with Joe Biden. "I've long called for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75. Trump claims he'd do better than me in one of those tests. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't. But if he thinks that, then he should have no problem standing on a debate stage with me," Haley quipped.
"Rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him," the candidate has been repeating for weeks about the former president. This convoluted phrase sums up the limits of her strategy in dealing with Trump. "What does chaos mean? Haley never defines that word," said Jennifer Horn, former Republican Party boss in New Hampshire (2013-2017) and long-time Trump opponent, with a sigh. "Is chaos our problem today, or the fact that we're in the presence of a narcissistic, emotionally unstable criminal, convicted of sexual assault, who received business funding from a state that's among our biggest rivals while in the White House and who encouraged insurrection by trying to steal a legitimate presidential election?"
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