A new face-off between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in November is more likely than ever after the former president cemented his status as the favorite in the race for the Republican nomination in the New Hampshire primary.
• Also read: Republican primaries: Trump is very close to his goal
• Also read: Presidential election 2024: Not everything is decided for Trump
• Also read: Republican primaries: Trump is very close to his goal
The real estate mogul gave a “victory speech” after the results of the vote between him and Nikki Haley were announced. Her rival, a former U.N. ambassador, had once hoped to win this small northeastern state, where conservative voters are considered more moderate.
Ultimately, Donald Trump beat them by around 11 points, with more than 54% of the vote, or around 163,000 ballots.
AFP
After his recent victory in Iowa, he is the first Republican primary candidate to win in those two states without being an incumbent president. In the past, all winners of these first two rounds of voting were subsequently invested.
Joe Biden also won the Democratic primary in New Hampshire, despite not even being officially registered there due to disputes with the local Democratic Party. Voters put his name on the ballot.
If Nikki Haley, the only woman in the race for the Republican nomination, wanted to believe that the race between her and her 77-year-old rival was “far from over,” the Democratic president immediately named Donald Trump as his opponent.
“Everything is at stake”
“The stakes couldn’t be higher. Our democracy. Our individual freedoms […]. Our economy […]. “Everything is at stake,” responded the 81-year-old Democrat.
Joe Biden is relying on the good economic condition of the USA, but above all on the fear that Donald Trump is stirring up in order to mobilize Americans, the majority of whom, according to surveys, have little desire for a rematch between the two men.
His victory in the New Hampshire primary is symbolic – Joe Biden has no serious competition and, barring any surprises or health accidents, he will surely be sworn in in August.
But his supporters will want to see this as a reassuring sign, especially since the president had a very poor showing in the same state in the 2020 primaries.
“It was a pretty good evening” for Joe Biden, even a former spokeswoman for Donald Trump, Kayleigh McEnany, admitted on Fox News.
AFP
The real test for Joe Biden will be the Democratic primary in South Carolina on February 3rd. In 2020, he gained momentum toward the White House here, supported by African-American voters.
As for Donald Trump, he believes he has his chance for “revenge” – he promised that after the November 2020 defeat, which he never acknowledged; after his supporters stormed the Capitol the following January; And although he is surrounded by legal proceedings, four of them are criminal in nature.
On Monday, the Republican, who has deepened partisan divides in the United States since his victorious 2016 election campaign, attacked Joe Biden, “the worst president” America has ever had.
“Chaos”
To face Joe Biden on November 5, Donald Trump will have to face Nikki Haley at his party's convention at the end of all US state primaries this summer, if she claims.
Incidentally, the former president has already provided clarity. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, once considered his main rival, rallied after the Iowa vote.
Nikki Haley criticizes the former populist president for spreading “chaos” whose term was marked by a series of angry tweets, diplomatic turmoil and violent statements.
In recent days, the former governor of South Carolina, where the Republican primary takes place on February 24, has also questioned her “declining” cognitive abilities.
Too bad for Donald Trump, who makes fun of Joe Biden, his age and his mistakes.
The Democratic president chose Tuesday to speak on an issue seen as promising for his party: defending abortion rights.
As he traveled to Virginia, near Washington, with Vice President Kamala Harris, he accused Donald Trump of wanting to increasingly restrict access to elective abortions “at any cost.”
But his speech was interrupted several times by pro-Palestinian protesters, highlighting the tensions caused within the progressive electorate by the White House's policy of strong support for Israel.