NASHUA, New Hampshire (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump defeated Ambassador Nikki Haley last night in the New Hampshire primary, winning about 55 percent of the vote.
The former president’s victory follows a substantial victory last week in Iowa. Haley, who served at the United Nations under Trump, said she plans to stay in the race.
Haley is the only significant candidate left, after both Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out last week. Both have since endorsed Trump and criticized Haley.
Trump said Haley had a “very bad night” and criticized the state’s liberal Republican Governor Chris Sununu who endorsed Haley.
He appeared onstage with son Eric Trump and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, a potential vice-presidential pick.
Ramaswamy, a critic of Haley, also took the podium.
“What we saw tonight is America First defeating America Last. That’s what we saw tonight,” the businessman said. “If you want America Last, you can go to Joe Biden, you’ve got another candidate still apparently in the Republican primary. Cut your Social Security to fork over more money to Ukraine so some kleptocrat can buy a bigger house, go to Nikki Haley.”
Sen. Scott, originally appointed to the U.S. Senate by then-Governor Haley, called on supporters to come to South Carolina. “It is time for the Republican Party to coalesce around our nominee and the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.”
There are two races coming up before the February 24 primary, where Haley hopes to win based on her prior record as governor in the state. However, those races are the Virgin Islands, with minimal delegates, and both a Nevada caucus and a Nevada primary. However, only the caucus, which includes Trump but not Haley, will award delegates, according to CBS News.
During her speech, Haley criticized the “political class” for saying “this race is over.”
“New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not the last in the nation,” Haley said. (The Iowa caucus was the first election in the Republican primary calendar. Haley came in third place).
She said there are “dozens” of states to go before the nominee is chosen.
“And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina,” Haley said.
Calling herself a “fighter” and “scrappy,” Haley noted she is the “last one standing next to Donald Trump” after 14 candidates initially entered the race.
“I’ve got bad news for the political establishment: I’m not going anywhere… except to my sweet South Carolina. We’re not going to let them coronate Donald Trump when 48 states haven’t voted,” she stated on her Facebook page.
The former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, while criticizing the “political class” and the “political establishment,” has drawn interest from moderate and liberal donors.
A former Boeing board member, Haley has attracted attention from Democrats and moderates. For example, billionaire LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman donated $250,000 to a Haley-aligned super PAC after J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called on wealthy Democrats to boost her over Trump.
“While I am a staunch supporter of Biden and hope he will win a second term, I also provided financial support to Nikki Haley’s super PAC even though some polls show Haley doing better than Trump in a general election against Biden,” Hoffman stated, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews. “I did so because my first priority is American democracy and the integrity of our legal system. That means my first priority is to defeat Trump, and the primary is the first of two chances to do so.”
Haley has drawn criticism from grassroots conservatives. While she generally supported pro-life policies while U.N. ambassador, even over objections from staff, she has since distanced herself from pushing for significant federal protections for preborn babies. She has dismissed the idea of a federal abortion ban and instead said she wants to focus on adoption, conscience protections, and making abortifacient birth control more easily accessible.
As LifeSiteNews previously reported:
While touting her pro-life views, she has emphasized the need to find ‘consensus’ on the issue and said that abortion ‘is personal for every woman and every man. So I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice any more than I want you to judge me for being pro-life.’
On the issue of transgenderism, Haley has said she does not believe there should be laws that prevent gender-confused kids from undergoing surgical and chemical mutilation. She said schools should not push ‘gender pronouns’ but otherwise took the position that ‘the law should stay out of it and I think parents should handle it. This is a job for the parents to handle.’ She added the contradictory statement that ‘when a child becomes 18, they can do that [mutilate their bodies]. But I think up until then – we see with our teenage kids, they go through a lot in puberty. They go through a lot of confusion, they go through a lot of anxiety, they go through a lot of pressures. We should support them, the whole way through, but we don’t need to go in and force something in schools.’
She also is supportive of engaging in Ukraine and called anonymous social media accounts a “national security threat.” She later, following backlash, said “I don’t mind anonymous American people having free speech; what I don’t like is anonymous Russians and Chinese and Iranians having free speech.”