GOP Candidate Nikki Haley Banking on Closing Gap on Trump in New Hampshire

Nikki Haley Strategizes to Narrow the Gap Against Trump in New Hampshire GOP Race

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was in New Hampshire on Wednesday to make her case for the White House in an attempt to close the gap between herself and frontrunner Donald J. Trump.

Republican Presidential Debate: Nikki Haley Bows Out Unless Donald Trump Joins Discussions
Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she will not be attending the next Republican presidential debate unless Donald Trump joins the event as well. Win McNamee/Getty Images

The former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor has emerged as the only GOP candidate who has a shadow of a chance to beat Donald J. Trump.

In the past few weeks, Haley has polled higher than other GOP challengers to Trump, which has resulted in an uptick in donations. However, Haley did lose to Ron DeSantis in Iowa on Monday. This disappointing showing has galvanized the Haley campaign to separate itself from DeSantis once and for all in New Hampshire.

"If Haley has a good showing in New Hampshire, it's going to shift the momentum, energy, and excitement behind her campaign going into South Carolina," said Haley backer and former Maryland governor Larry Hogan.

No candidate has lost a race in which they claimed the first two states, and Trump is keen to put away his challengers once and for all in New Hampshire."We can't have a country in disarray, a world on fire, and go to four more years of chaos.

We won't survive it."You don't defeat Democratic chaos with Republican chaos," she said, hitting out at both Trump and President Joe Biden in one fell swoop. The relatively large number of Independents who are allowed to vote in the primary in New Hampshire could pose a threat to Trump.

Nikki Haley's polling numbers have closed the gap with Trump from 35 points to 14 points.DeSantis is considered to be a distant third in New Hampshire.

What About The Debates?

Haley has stated that she will no longer engage in debates unless against Donald J. Trump, thus furthering the belief that Ron DeSantis is an irrelevant candidate.

It was previously reported by HNGN that the planned televised Republican presidential debates in New Hampshire have hit a roadblock as the three leading candidates-Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Ron DeSantis-declined to engage in the aftermath of the Iowa Caucus. ABC News called off the debate after Nikki Haley insisted on participating only if either Trump or President Joe Biden were present. According to Politico, the former president has consistently skipped GOP primary debates, expressing willingness only if the race was "very close" post the New Hampshire primary. The absence of the top contenders adds a layer of uncertainty to the unfolding GOP nomination dynamics.

Tags
Donald Trump
Real Time Analytics