Although she trailed the former president in Iowa, the former US ambassador to the UN is now within striking distance of Trump in New Hampshire according to recent polls.
In the snow-covered Iowa primary on Monday, the former US ambassador to the UN came in third place, trailing the former president by a significant margin but only a few points behind Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
In order to avoid appearing on stage against a competitor who was tied to him in the polls in the race to face Democratic President Joe Biden in November, Mr. Trump has opted out of every Republican primary debate thus far.
But according to some recent polls, Mrs. Haley and Mr. Trump are tied, or in the same single digits, in New Hampshire, which gives her campaign hope that she can launch a serious challenge moving forward.
The electorate in New Hampshire is less rural and less religiously conservative than that in Iowa, which benefited Mr. Trump during the caucuses there.
The rest of the Republican primary schedule may become merely a formality if Mr. Trump gains momentum and Mr. DeSantis and Mrs. Haley are unable to capitalize on those differences in the state. Once a Republican wins both Iowa and New Hampshire, they have never lost the party’s nomination.
In an attempt to win the Republican nomination from a party that is dominated by followers of Mr. Trump, Mrs. Haley has worked to assemble a sizable coalition of supporters.
She has focused heavily on New Hampshire in the hopes that it will serve as a springboard for her race in her home state primary in South Carolina the following month.
Independent voter Kristen Mansharamani of Lincoln, New Hampshire, stated she would support Mrs. Haley in 2024 and has never thought of supporting Mr. Trump.
“I told my 12-year-old son that I am looking for the person who I think is going to get rid of some of the standstill and the polarisation in politics and I think she can do that better than anyone else out there right now,” said the 48-year-old.
Prior to her arrival in the state, on Tuesday morning, Mrs. Haley took advantage of New Hampshire’s reputation for independence by releasing a state-wide television ad that targeted both Mr. Trump and Joe Biden.
The advertisement refers to the 81-year-old president and the 77-year-old former president as “the two most disliked politicians in America,” portraying them as being “consumed by chaos, negativity, and grievance of the past” together.
