The Wash
Nikki Haley supports in front of a large American flag on stage at one of her rallies.

Biden-Trump rematch nears

Voters across the state vainly sought refuge in Nikki Haley and Dean Philipps
as they looked to avoid repeat of 2020 general election.

By Edozie Umunna

MANCHESTER, N. H. — Former President Donald Trump cruised to a comfortable win in New Hampshire’s Republican primary Tuesday, ending with 54% of the vote. Despite a formidable challenge from former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, the nation’s 45th president won the state by over 11 percentage points, following up on a dominant win last week in Iowa.

Trump’s victories in Iowa and New Hampshire almost certainly assures him the nomination as his team shifts their attention to South Carolina.

On the Democratic side of the primary, a campaign to write-in President Joe Biden’s name coasted to a commanding victory with 59% of the vote. Warding off Dean Phillip’s energetic attempt to complicate things with a primary challenge, Biden took another step toward the nomination despite not once campaigning in New Hampshire.

Trump and Biden’s victories indicate that the country is headed toward a repeat of the 2020 general election — a reality that many voters in New Hampshire object to. However, the alternatives to the two parties’ presumptive nominees have failed to entice the state’s voters sufficiently.

Young voter holds up a sign at Nikki Haley’s January 21 rally in Exeter, N.H. (Edozie Umunna/ The Wash)

Karishma Manzur of Exeter, New Hampshire, came to Nikki Haley’s Jan. 21 rally hoping to find a candidate with the will and capacity to defeat Donald Trump. Instead, she found herself disappointed with Haley’s messaging.

“We need to see democracy over autocracy. And we want to see decency over vulgarity, and we want to see truth over lies. And unfortunately, the Trump train has taken over America,” Manzur said. “And we were hoping Nikki Haley was going to be truly on the attack. But we were so saddened by the fact that she barely criticized him.”

Manzur instead found Haley’s words misguided. The candidate, in Manzur’s eyes, had directed aggression at the wrong adversaries.

“She’s opposing Trump on Tuesday, but it sounded like she’s opposing China and Biden on Tuesday,” Manzur said. “She was way harsher with China and Biden than she was with Donald Trump … with that attitude, she cannot possibly stop the Trump train. I am really, really sad.”

Cooper Aleyar, 19, a student at St. Olaf’s College from Rosemont, Minnesota, expressed a similar sentiment. Having traversed over 1,500 miles to campaign in New Hampshire for Biden, Aleyar found himself unmoved by Philipps’s challenge.

“I’m from Minnesota, so I’m a bit familiar with Dean Phillips,” Oleyar said. “I’ve looked at some of his policies, and he just seems like a real flip-flopper. Kind of like he’s throwing a bunch of policies on the wall just to see what sticks.”

While Aleyar noted that Biden was far from his ideal candidate, he called on the electorate to rally around the presumed nominee.

“The world isn’t perfect, and you can’t get everything you want to get done, and sometimes you do have to compromise your ideals,” Aleyar said. “But I think that if you look at everything Biden has done, he is by far the best candidate to get through, that supports policies that help young people and progressives.”

The Wash Staff

4 comments

Follow us

Don't be shy, get in touch. We love meeting interesting people and making new friends.

Most popular

Most discussed