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Ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump made a prediction about how many of Nikki Haley's supporters he will need to carry the state.
Trump and Haley face off on Tuesday, with many media outlets speculating if the former South Carolina governor can pull off an upset due to a more favorable demographic than in the Iowa caucus. However, polling has indicated Trump is comfortably ahead in the Granite State as the former president aims to deliver a resounding blow to Haley that could make him the only Republican candidate left.
Haley, the last of Trump's rivals still running against him for the 2024 Republican nomination, is hoping for a good showing in New Hampshire. The former U.N. ambassador finished third in the Iowa caucuses on January 15, following Trump, who achieved an overwhelming victory with 51.0 percent of the vote, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who got 21.2 percent of the vote before suspending his campaign.
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump stopped at a polling location in Londonderry, New Hampshire. While speaking with the press about Tuesday's primary, the former president claimed that Haley's supporters will all end up voting for him again.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's and Haley's campaigns via email for comment.
Trump added that he's "not sure we're going to need too many" of her voters to beat President Joe Biden.
"Oh, they'll all vote for me. They are all going to vote for me again, everybody, and I'm not sure we need too many," Trump told a reporter.
The former president continued by taking aim at Biden, saying, "Biden is the worst president in the history of this country, but we are all going to come back, they're all coming back and I think you see that here."
Trump's comments come after Haley has been campaigning extensively in the state as she hopes to continue to monopolize on independent voters, who can participate in either Democrat or Republican contests.
Earlier Tuesday, Haley celebrated news of her victory in the tiny community of Dixville Notch in midnight voting, calling it "a great start to a great day in New Hampshire" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
There are six registered primary voters in the town, four Republicans and two independents, who cast their ballots, by tradition, once midnight struck. All six votes went to Haley.
Overall polls that include GOP voters point to a Haley defeat, with polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight predicting a win for Trump with 52.3 percent of the vote. Haley is trailing behind at 36.7 percent, which is still more than her vote share in Iowa.
Update 1/23/24, 3 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
About the writer
Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more