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President Joe Biden declared that former President Donald Trump “will be the nominee” following Trump’s landslide victory in New Hampshire on Tuesday night in the Republican presidential primary.
In a statement emailed to Mediaite, Biden framed Trump as the presumptive victor and thanked voters who helped his write-in campaign, which led to him winning the Democratic primary in New Hampshire.
“It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher. Our Democracy. Our personal freedoms — from the right to choose to the right to vote. Our economy — which has seen the strongest recovery in the world since COVID. All are at stake. I want to thank all those who wrote my name in this evening in New Hampshire,” the statement read from Biden.
“It was a historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process. And I want to say to all those Independents and Republicans who share our commitment to core values of our nation — our Democracy, our personal freedoms, an economy that gives everyone a fair shot — to join us as Americans. Let’s remember. We are the United States of America. And there is nothing — nothing — we can’t do if we do it together,” the statement added.
After a one-on-one matchup with former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, Trump emerged victorious in the New Hampshire GOP primary on Tuesday.
Trump used his victory speech to slam Haley after she vowed to continue her campaign.
“I said, wow, she’s doing a speech like she won. She didn’t win. She lost,” Trump said at the Sheraton in Nashua. “Let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night. She had a very bad night.”
Trump and his team have encouraged Haley to withdraw from the contest, arguing that her chances of winning the nomination are now slim given his victories in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Where Haley is not running is in the Nevada caucus, which is the next nominating contest and opportunity to get delegates. The primary then moves to South Carolina, the home state of Haley, where Trump is leading in the polls.
Turning to face Scott, who Haley had appointed to the Senate, Trump declared that his support for Scott must indicate that he truly “hates” Haley. “I simply adore you,” Scott answered.
“We are going to win this. We have no choice. If we don’t win, I think our country is finished,” Trump said.
For her part, Haley is vowing to stay in the race.
Haley spoke to supporters after the race was called and vowed to stay in the race until the end. Despite losing both Iowa and New Hampshire — while also trailing big in Nevada and South Carolina polls — Haley claimed she had a path forward.
Haley acknowledged her defeat, but was adamant that “we keep moving up.”
“I want to congratulate Donald Trump,” she said before knocking the “political class” for “saying this race is over.”
“With Donald Trump, Republicans have lost almost every competitive election. We lost the Senate. We lost the House. We lost the White House. We lost in 2018. We lost in 2020. And we lost in 2022,” Haley declared.
“The worst kept secret in politics is how badly the Democrats want to run against Donald Trump,” Haley claimed, adding, “a Trump nomination is a Biden win and a Kamala Harris president.”
“Our fight is not over because we have a country to save,” Haley stressed. “New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not last in the nation. This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left to go. And the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina.”
She also noted she got “close to half of the vote.”
