CNN
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Donald Trump is looking for to ship a knockout blow to Nikki Haley in New Hampshire’s Republican primary, deploying racist canine whistles in opposition to the onetime South Carolina governor as the previous president ramps up his marketing campaign schedule and hammers his rival on the airwaves.
For weeks, Trump’s marketing campaign has handled Haley as a critical risk in New Hampshire — and the candidate himself made that clear beginning Tuesday with a sequence of assaults on social media and at a rally within the state.
He went after Haley whereas referring to her first identify, Nimarata, in a put up on his social media platform Fact Social (although he misspelled Nimarata as Nimrada). Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa and took her husband’s final identify after they married.
Trump additionally not too long ago amplified a put up that falsely claimed Haley was ineligible to run for president as a result of her dad and mom weren’t United States residents on the time of her beginning. Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and is a US citizen.
The assaults echo Trump’s smears in opposition to former President Barack Obama. Trump was a chief promoter of the racist lie that Obama was not born within the US and was ineligible to be president. Trump additionally frequently emphasizes Obama’s center identify, Hussein, at marketing campaign rallies.
On Wednesday morning, Trump attacked Haley once more, posting an altered picture of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Haley’s face superimposed on it.
The put up contains Clinton’s 2016 marketing campaign emblem — a blue “H” and pink arrow — however spells out “Haley” as an alternative of “Hillary.”
The assaults on Haley are a dramatic departure from Trump’s Monday evening victory speech in Iowa, the place he known as Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “very sensible, very succesful folks.”
However the actions mirror the efforts of his marketing campaign, which weeks in the past homed in on Haley in New Hampshire.
Because the begin of 2023, Haley and her allies have spent practically $28.6 million on promoting in New Hampshire, whereas Trump and his allies have spent about $14.4 million on promoting there. However in current weeks, the hole between Haley and Trump’s promoting has narrowed. Because the begin of the brand new yr, Haley and her allies have mixed to spend about $9 million in New Hampshire, whereas Trump and his allies have spent about $8.5 million.
These adverts have attacked Haley on immigration, one thing Trump’s crew views as a prime situation for Republicans in New Hampshire.
“One purpose was to instill a ceiling with Republicans and right-leaning independents,” a senior Trump adviser mentioned of the adverts.
Haley’s rise in New Hampshire has been aided by the state’s extra average voters and the outsize position independents play inside the main. Each registered Republicans and independents are allowed to vote within the GOP main, elevating considerations inside the Trump marketing campaign about left-leaning independents turning out to solid ballots in opposition to the previous president.
Trump’s adverts have additionally sought to restrict Haley’s enchantment to impartial and left-leaning voters by highlighting her calls to reform Social Safety and Medicare.
“We perceive that there are going to be [left-leaning] independents who’re going to be motivated simply to exit and vote in opposition to Trump … however we don’t need that quantity to overhaul the Republicans who assist Trump,” the senior adviser mentioned.
A victory in Tuesday’s New Hampshire main — eight days after his dominating win within the Iowa caucuses — would speed up Trump’s march to a 3rd consecutive GOP presidential nomination. His marketing campaign has its sights set on wrapping up the first early, with landslide victories in the early-voting states after which successfully clinching the nomination by mid-March.
However Trump faces a more durable check within the Granite State, the place polls present Haley, who was his US ambassador to the United Nations, inside single digits of him and difficult his front-runner standing there.
A current CNN poll of the New Hampshire Republican primary discovered Haley trimming Trump’s lead all the way down to single digits, successful 55% of self-identified average voters, whereas Trump secured 60% of those that recognized as conservative.
Throughout a rally in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, Trump accused Haley of “artificially boosting her numbers” by interesting to “Democrats and liberals to infiltrate” the GOP main.
Solely Republicans and undeclared voters can take part within the New Hampshire GOP main, and the deadline for Democrats to alter their registration handed months in the past. Nevertheless, undeclared voters make up a plurality of the Granite State voters — outnumbering each registered Republicans and registered Democrats.
Trump’s social media assaults and his marketing campaign’s elevated spending in New Hampshire are amongst many indicators his crew views Haley as a risk there.
His marketing campaign has added a number of occasions to what was anticipated to be a comparatively minimal schedule within the state forward of the January 23 main. The previous president will now maintain occasions in New Hampshire practically day-after-day till voting begins.
Trump advisers additionally say that they imagine entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s exit from the GOP race can solely profit the previous president. Ramaswamy instantly endorsed Trump after suspending his marketing campaign Monday evening following a lackluster exhibiting in Iowa.
“We don’t know the way a lot assist (Ramaswamy) actually has in New Hampshire, however each vote counts, and we imagine that 98% of the votes that he would have gotten are going to return to us,” the adviser mentioned.
Haley, in the meantime, may benefit from the assist former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was registering in New Hampshire before he exited the race final week. Christie’s marketing campaign — constructed round his anti-Trump message — had centered nearly completely on New Hampshire, and plenty of polls discovered him within the low double digits there.
The CNN New Hampshire ballot, which was carried out earlier than Christie dropped out of the race, discovered that amongst his supporters, Haley was the clear second selection — with 65% saying they might assist her had been Christie not within the race. Fewer than 1 in 10 of his backers mentioned they might select different candidates and 13% mentioned they might not vote.
Quite than attacking Trump instantly, Haley has lumped her former boss along with President Joe Biden — taking swipes at their ages.
“Nearly all of People suppose that having two 80-year-olds roles working for president shouldn’t be what they need,” she informed a crowd Tuesday in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. “You’ve received two individuals who spent trillions of {dollars} in debt that our youngsters are by no means going to forgive us. Biden and Trump each did that.”
Haley additionally mentioned she wouldn’t take part in deliberate debates hosted by ABC Information and CNN in New Hampshire until Trump, too, took the stage. Each debates have since been canceled.
After ending third in Iowa, simply behind DeSantis, Haley sought to dismiss the Florida governor’s probabilities within the GOP race shifting ahead — noting that she was effectively forward of him in New Hampshire surveys and that he was polling poorly in South Carolina, the place the February 24 Republican main could possibly be among the many most vital dates within the GOP presidential race. DeSantis traveled to South Carolina on Tuesday and is scheduled to return to the state for extra occasions this weekend.
“Look, it actually doesn’t matter to me why he went there. I’m certain he had a good time. South Carolina is a good state, however he’s in single digits in South Carolina and single digits in New Hampshire. He’s been invisible in each states,” Haley mentioned in an interview Tuesday with CNN’s Dana Bash.
“He’s not my concern. I’m going after Trump.”
CNN’s Terence Burlij, David Wright, Ariel Edwards-Levy, Ebony Davis, Kate Sullivan and Alison Predominant contributed to this report.