Election 2024 live updates: Trump and Haley make their final pitches before New Hampshire primary – NBC News
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Rep. Jeff Duncan became the latest South Carolina Republican to endorse Trump over Haley, the state’s former governor.
“I know that President Trump can fix the problems our nation faces and position America for sustainable success,” Duncan wrote in a post on X.
Duncan’s endorsement comes after Rep. Nancy Mace, another South Carolina Republican, endorsed Trump earlier in the day.
Prior to Monday’s endorsement, Duncan had stayed out of the GOP presidential primary. Duncan told NBC News on Dec. 5: “I haven’t endorsed in the race because, Tim Scott, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo was running. Nikki Haley was my governor. I’ve got too many friends in the race. Ron DeSantis and I were very close, so I’m staying out of it.”
Haley’s sole endorsement from South Carolina’s congressional delegation is Rep. Ralph Norman.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., defended the recent removal of language related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on his presidential campaign website during a Bloomberg TV roundtable today.
The section of his website is now called “Equity and Restorative Justice.” Phillips said that while he believes in the individual values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, “those words together … are now slogans that are being litigated and dividing up the country.”
When pressed on whether the change was related to the $1 million donation billionaire hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, a prominent critic of DEI initiatives, made to a political action committee supporting his bid, Phillips replied, “Nobody buys me.”
When Congress began the new year, Rep. Andy Biggs gave a television interview and made a startling confession: House Republicans have done nothing they can run on.
“We have nothing. In my opinion, we have nothing to go out there and campaign on,” the Arizona Republican said on the conservative network Newsmax. “It’s embarrassing.”
Anchor Chris Salcedo responded with a bemused chuckle. “I know,” he said. “The Republican Party in the Congress majority has zero accomplishments.”
The exchange captured a dynamic that looms over Republican lawmakers heading into the 2024 election: They’ve passed little substantive legislation since winning the majority in 2022 and struggled to do the basics of governing with a Democratic-led Senate. Their first year was instead marked by fractiousness and chaos, complicating the party’s pitch to voters this fall.
The challenge is accentuated by Trump making “retribution” against his enemies, rather than shared policy goals, the centerpiece of his comeback bid as he continues to spread fabricated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Read the full story here.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Haley is looking to temper expectations heading into tomorrow’s New Hampshire primary, saying she only wants to be “stronger” than she was in Iowa, where she finished third.
“Our goal is to be stronger than we were in Iowa and then keep going to my sweet state of South Carolina,” she told NBC News.
“Let’s keep in mind, we don’t do coronations in this country,” Haley added. “Because 70% of Americans don’t want a Trump-Biden rematch.”
Haley brushed off the many endorsements Trump has received, including those from her home state of South Carolina.
“It is the political elite. I always fight back to hold the political elites accountable,” she said. “And I’ve always fought for the people. I don’t want their endorsements. I want the endorsements of the hardworking people of New Hampshire and South Carolina.”
Asked how she can win the nomination if she doesn’t win a state outright, Haley responded: “Because it’s not just about three states. Then you go on to Super Tuesday. This is a process … Why should we assume, ‘Oh this time, we have to have Biden and Trump?’ That’s not fair to the American people. More people deserve to be able to vote and I’m gonna give them that option.”
Haley was also asked if those who are in jail following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol are “hostages,” as Trump has called them.
“Well, if they’ve been convicted and they’ve done something guilty, no, they’re prisoners that are paying a price,” she said. “If they are sitting in jail and they’re not getting a hearing, that’s something different. … As far as I know, if you committed a crime, you have to be held accountable. If you didn’t and you were just protesting that day and using your freedom of speech, you shouldn’t be.”
In Haley’s stump speech, she says “chaos follows Trump, fairly or unfairly.” Asked what the fair chaos was, Haley pointed to his social media activity.
“He feeds off of chaos,” she said. “He creates it by going on temper tantrums or creating rants or saying things he shouldn’t say, that we don’t want dictators to hear. He creates that chaos.”
As for the unfair chaos, “when you see these political cases” like in New York, Haley said, “that’s wrong. But either way America is tired of the chaos. We don’t want it anymore.”
In separate posts on X, the GOP’s House and Senate campaign chairs both said Trump is their “presumptive nominee” for president and called on the party to embrace him.
NRCC Chair Richard Hudson:
NRSC Chair Steve Daines:
EXETER, N.H. — Attendees at Haley’s boisterous rally here yesterday included members of both parties and independent voters, and many of them noted one big draw to Haley — her relative youth.
“We need somebody different. Younger, with fresh ideas. I think a woman could maybe do that,” Diane Pineo, 66, a registered Republican, told NBC News.
Brad Copithorne, 59, is a volunteer for Haley’s campaign who traveled to New Hampshire from North Carolina. “I’m a big supporter,” Copithorne said. “I think, you know, the age thing is very important.”
“Haley has so much energy,” he added. “She’s doing six or seven events a day. … It’s just incredible.”
Another voter compared Haley to a young, energizing politician who came through the Granite State in 2008.
“I think she’s been inspirational to be honest with you,” Tony Rivera, 56, told NBC News, adding: “The last candidate that I had, that I saw that I was inspired like this was [former President Barack] Obama.”
ROCHESTER, N.H. — This small city of roughly 33,000 in southeastern New Hampshire is one of a handful of cities and towns that has mirrored the GOP statewide primary results going back to 1952.
And “the campaigns know that Rochester is a bellwether,” said Mayor Paul Callaghan, a Republican.
Trump held a rally here Sunday evening, while Haley also campaigned here in the final days of the race. And in many ways, the city illustrates how the GOP has changed in the last decade: Voters here twice supported former President Barack Obama before they flipped to support Trump in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.
Read the full story here.
Nikki Haley’s campaign and the super PACs backing her bid spent a combined $6.8 million on campaign ads from Jan. 15 through Jan. 21, according to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.
The spending far outpaces pro-Trump campaign advertisement spending nationally. In the same time frame, Trump’s campaign and the super PACs backing him spent a combined $3.2 million.
In New Hampshire specifically, pro-Haley groups and her campaign spent a combined $5 million in the last week, while pro-Trump groups and his campaign spent just under $3 million.
NBC News’ Shaquille Brewster spoke to undeclared voters in New Hampshire as Nikki Haley hopes to get their support to beat former President Trump in the state’s Republican primary tomorrow.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — A day ahead of the New Hampshire primary, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani stopped by the Red Arrow Diner, where he served coffee to patrons and chatted with reporters.
From behind the counter, Giuliani argued that Trump’s mounting legal battles are all politically motivated.
“You’re indicting him not to try him for a crime. You’re making a mockery out of that. You’re indicting him so he doesn’t have the time to beat you,” Giuliani said.
He also cast Haley as hypocritical and indecisive.
“You don’t need a person who when they’re asked what was the cause of the civil war, has to go check with a pollster to find out what do the people want to hear?” Giuliani said, adding later, “I’ve been in politics long enough that I can pick out the phonies, she’s a phony.”
Reading Jillian’s note I can’t think of anything that shows Trump’s confidence more than the fact that they’re actively using Rudy as a surrogate. This guy basically got Trump impeached twice, the entire rest of the elected party thinks he’s at best toxic — and Trump has him pouring coffee in Manchester?
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced his endorsement of Republican businessman Bernie Moreno for the GOP nomination in the Ohio Senate race for Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s seat.
“I’m proud to announce my endorsement of Bernie Moreno for the US Senate in my home state of Ohio. I’m endorsing Bernie because he’s an outsider, he’s a businessman, and you all know I have a bias towards that being one of them myself,” Ramaswamy said in a video posted on X, referring to his own experience as a biotech entrepreneur. “I think we need more businessmen in Washington, D.C., to actually drive change.”
Moreno has scored endorsements from Trump and some of his allies, such as Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, ahead of the March 19 primary. Moreno, a former Cleveland-area car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur, will face off against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan for the Republican nomination to challenge Brown.
Ramaswamy’s endorsement of Moreno comes after he voiced his support for Trump after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses last week.
The largest newspaper in New Hampshire has endorsed Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., in the Democratic primary, calling him “a reasonable alternative”.
On the Republican side, Haley received the newspaper’s endorsement yesterday. The New Hampshire Union Leader, a historically conservative paper, endorsed Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Biden is not on the ballot in New Hampshire, and the winner of the Democratic primary is not expected to receive any delegates.
FRANKLIN, N.H. — Haley pushed back against calls for her to drop out as the GOP race narrows to a one-on-one contest between her and Trump.
“America doesn’t do coronations. We believe in choices,” Haley said at a campaign stop here this morning. “We believe in democracy and we believe in freedom.
She also pushed back against Trump’s attacks against her on Social Security, the border wall and conflicts abroad.
“Every single thing that Donald Trump has said or put on TV has been a lie,” Haley said.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a former Republican presidential candidate, announced that he will not seek re-election this year. Burgum, a former software entrepreneur, was first elected in 2016.
He endorsed Trump at a rally on the eve of the Iowa caucuses. Trump said that he hoped Burgum could play a “very important” role in a potential future administration.
Two new polls released today show Trump is maintaining a double-digit lead over Haley in the New Hampshire primary.
The latest Suffolk University/NBC-10/Boston Globe tracking poll found Trump at 57% and Haley at 38% among likely GOP primary voters without DeSantis in the race.
And a Washington Post/Monmouth University poll put Trump at 52% and Haley at 34% among potential Republican primary voters. The survey, which was conducted before DeSantis dropped out, had the Florida governor at 8%. DeSantis supporters were twice as likely to name Trump than Haley as their second choice, according to Monmouth’s release.
The Suffolk poll of 500 likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters was conducted Jan. 20-21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
The Monmouth poll of 712 potential New Hampshire Republican primary voters was conducted Jan. 16-20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
Rep. Nancy Mace is endorsing Trump, marking yet another South Carolina Republican who is backing the former president over Haley, the state’s former governor.
A source familiar said Mace texted Haley before the news of the endorsement broke.
Haley campaigned with Mace when she faced a Trump-backed Republican primary challenger in 2022.
Mace, who once worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign, was critical of him after the 2020 election, but ultimately fell back in line with the former president.
Haley’s lone congressional backer is Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
Trump was on hand for the damages trial in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit against him today, but the trial was postponed over Covid concerns involving his attorneys.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba told the judge she’d had a fever after being with relatives three days ago who later tested positive for Covid, and that her co-counsel Michael Madaio had been exposed, as well. Both tested negative for Covid in court this morning. Both were on either side of their 77-year-old former president without any masks on as they addressed U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Kaplan said a juror in the case had headed home to test after feeling ill on the way in to court. He granted Habba’s request for a one-day postponement.
Read the full story here.
Biden will convene key members of his Cabinet today to discuss abortion rights on the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, according to a White House official.
The president will “hear directly from physicians on the frontlines of the fallout” since the landmark decision was reversed and detail new actions his administration is taking to strengthen access to contraception and medication abortion, as well as ensuring patients can receive emergency medical care.
The meeting will mark the fourth time his task force on reproductive health care access has come together since the fall of Roe roughly a year and a half ago.
Read the full story here.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — A prominent New Hampshire Democrat plans to file a complaint with the state attorney general over an apparent robocall that appears to encourage Biden supporters not to vote in tomorrow’s presidential primary.
The voice in the message is familiar — even presidential — as it’s an apparent imitation or digital manipulation of Biden’s voice.
Read the full story here.
Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez responded: “This matter has already been referred to the New Hampshire Attorney General, and the campaign is actively discussing additional actions to take immediately. Spreading disinformation to suppress voting and deliberately undermine free and fair elections will not stand, and fighting back against any attempt to undermine our democracy will continue to be a top priority for this campaign.”
Democratic leaders are marking the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision with almost a dozen events in key swing states.
“These events come as Trump has endorsed a federal ban, promised ‘to be leading the charge’ in getting one passed, and has consistently said he’s proud to have overturned Roe,” said Josh Marcus-Blank, the Biden campaign’s communications director for battleground states. “Our campaign is not going to let him avoid his record of attacking women’s freedoms.”
Many of the events are in crucial swing states, including the five states Biden flipped in 2020: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona.
Biden, Harris and their spouses are also holding a campaign rally in Virginia tomorrow to mark the anniversary of the Roe decision, which the Supreme Court overturned in 2022.
The damages trial in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit against Trump resumes today, with the former president expected to attend — and possibly testify.
Carroll, who sued Trump for defaming her when he was president by calling her sexual abuse allegations against him “pure fiction” and a “hoax,” is expected to wrap up her case by this afternoon, paving the way for Trump’s defense case to start. He is listed as one of only two defense witnesses and has said he plans to testify.
If he does, it would lead to the unprecedented sight of a former president and the current leading Republican presidential candidate taking the witness stand the day before a crucial primary in New Hampshire. Similar scenes are expected to play out in the coming year, with Trump facing the prospect of up to four criminal trials and other court hearings as he vies to return to the White House.
Read the full story here.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Yesterday morning, DeSantis summoned several of his closest advisers to the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee for a final conversation about his presidential campaign’s future, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
Then, DeSantis and his wife, Casey, left the advisers to have a private conversation in the upstairs residence. They decided he would pull the plug on a campaign that had no reasonable path forward. By the time they returned to the advisers, DeSantis had written down lines that would form part of the announcement that he was suspending the campaign.
The discussions at the Governor’s Mansion were the culmination of almost a week of conversations between DeSantis and his advisers that began last Monday night, shortly after he placed a distant second to Trump in the Iowa caucuses.
Read the full story here.
The day before the New Hampshire primary, Haley is making five stops in the state, while Trump is holding an evening rally. Donald Trump Jr. is also hosting an event on his father’s behalf this afternoon.
The former president could also testify in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial in New York.
Biden’s long-shot Democratic challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and author Marianne Williamson, are campaigning in New Hampshire ahead of the state’s unsanctioned Democratic primary. The campaign to write in Biden’s name on the ballot tomorrow has surrogate events scheduled throughout the day.
Meanwhile, Harris has her eye on the general election, as she heads to Wisconsin to discuss abortion rights on the anniversary of the original Roe v. Wade ruling.
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