PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Republican Donald Trump unleashed on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at a Wednesday night rally and criticized New Hampshire’s open election system as he rallied supporters ahead of Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary.
Speaking to a crowd at a Portsmouth hotel, the former president blasted Haley — his main rival for the GOP nomination — criticizing her over her policy positions and record as governor. He also ripped Haley’s job as a representative to the United Nations during his presidency, calling her a “lousy negotiator.”
“A vote for Nikki Haley this Tuesday is a vote for Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress,” Trump said in remarks, as supporters cheered him. “A vote for Donald Trump is a vote to fire crooked Joe Biden and to kick the Biden crime family out of the White House.”
Trump, who arrived nearly two hours late for the event, also alleged that Haley is counting on Democrats, independents and other non-Republican voters to “infiltrate” the state’s GOP primary process.
He blasted Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who is campaigning for Haley, and suggested he needed to “fix” New Hampshire’s open primary system which allows independent voters to cast ballots in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. He falsely claimed that registered Democrats could “show up at the last minute” to cast ballots in the Republican primary.
The rally comes days after Trump’s historic victory in the Iowa caucuses, where he took 51% of the vote. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second with 21% and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was third with 19%.
Polls have shown Haley within striking distance of Trump in New Hampshire with voters set to go to the polls Tuesday.
But Trump has a solid track record of performance in New Hampshire primary elections. He won the 2016 and 2020 GOP primaries, despite later losing the general elections to Democrats in the state. He’s also been aggressively campaigning here in response to Haley’s bump in the polls, with another four rallies scheduled up until primary day.
The presidential election is unprecedented as it’s playing out with Trump facing multiple criminal and civil indictments, and battles in court to keep his name from being scratched off the Republican Party’s primary ballots.
He has denied wrongdoing in the Jan. 6 attack, and pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier in the day, he was in court in New York City for a defamation trial in which a jury has been selected to determine damages in a civil defamation lawsuit after he was found liable last year for sexually assaulting columnist E. Jean Carroll.
Trump is also facing challenges to his qualifications for the ballot under a rarely used clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — which bars insurrectionists from holding office — in Massachusetts and other states over his role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Two states, Colorado and Maine, have already barred him from the ballot, which Trump’s lawyers are challenging. The U.S. Supreme Court is ultimately expected to decide the fate of the challenges.
Pete Rogers, of Newfields, was among Trump’s supporters who waited hours in the freezing cold to get into Wednesday’s event. He voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and said he plans to do so again this election.
“Joe Biden is destroying our country,” the 43-year-old said. “We’ve got a illegal immigrants streaming across the border, taxes are killing us and the economy is in trouble. Trump is the only one who can right the ship. He’s got my vote.”
Another supporter, Rose Ferlina of Portsmouth, came to the rally donning a signature red “MAGA” hat, a Trump 2024 scarf and and other Trump apparel. She said the legal challenges facing the former president have only strengthened her resolve to support him.
“It’s all a bunch of phony liberal nonsense,” the 33-year-old telemarketer said.
“They don’t want him back in the White House so they’re bringing up all these bogus charges. It won’t stick.”
Christian M. Wade is covering the New Hampshire primaries for CNHI, LLC and North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com