In a potential blow to the Trump campaign, a new poll released just days before Christmas put GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, once ridiculed as past her prime and a long-shot candidate, just four points behind the former president in the critical first in the nation primary state of New Hampshire.
The survey, released Dec. 21 by the American Research Group, showed President Donald Trump won 33 percent of voter support while the former South Carolina governor won 29 percent, a further upset to the MAGA candidate’s long-held mega lead over Ms. Haley and other GOP rivals since the start of the race for the presidency.
A few days prior to the Dec. 21 poll, another poll showed Ms. Haley was only trailing President Trump by 15 points.
“For now, I’ll say this. I’ve won tough primaries and tough general elections. I’ve been the underdog every single time. When people underestimate me, it’s always fun. But I’ve never lost an election. And I’m not gonna start now,” Ms. Haley said at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership meeting in Nevada in a speech about pondering a presidential run.
Before the new polls, President Trump hailed as much as a 50-point lead over Ms. Haley in most polls. Ms. Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador under the Trump administration, has also broken away from the other Republican contenders, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Mr. DeSantis, once considered a formidable spoiler to President Trump’s bid for a second term, garnered only six percent of the vote in the American Research Group poll.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received 13 percent of the votes, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy earned 5 points in the survey.
Ms. Haley has until Jan. 23, 2024, the day of New Hampshire’s primary to further narrow the gap between her and President Trump.
News that Ms. Haley is already making big strides in closing that gap comes as she is on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, where she has several stops scheduled, including one in the skiing mecca of North Conway and two others in the college towns of Lebanon and Plymouth.
She was in Berlin, New Hampshire, on Wednesday. She plans to wrap up on Friday with a 9 a.m. stop in New Hampshire’s capital city of Concord.
It is the first time she’s been back to the Live Free or Die state since she won the endorsement of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.
For months, Mr. Sununu campaigned with Ms. Haley, Mr. Christie, and Mr. DeSantis in New Hampshire, but the four-term governor ultimately chose Ms. Haley to back in the presidential race with a Dec. 12 endorsement.
Presidential candidate Nikki Haley spoke to a crowd of supporters at the McIntyre Ski Resort in Manchester, N.H. after winning the endorsement of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, seen seated in the front. Alice Giordano
Mr. Sununu, who announced he was not seeking a fifth term after the presidential campaign season got underway, is now featured in one of Mrs. Haley’s newly released campaign ads.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has reacted with disdain over the new poll results.
In a Dec. 22 post on his Truth Social account, President Trump wrote, “Fake New Hampshire poll was released on Birdbrain.” Birdbrain is the derogatory nickname President Trump often uses to refer to Ms. Haley.
He also called the poll “just another scam” and made reference to Mr. Sununu as “now one of the least popular governors in the U.S,” while adding, “Real poll to follow.”
Less than a week earlier, at a packed campaign rally in Durham, New Hampshire, President Trump mocked the suggestion by news outlets that Ms. Haley was surging in polls.
At the time, Ms. Haley was showing steady but small gains in the polls.
President Trump also mocked Mr. Sununu’s backing of Ms. Haley, saying “He’s hurt himself so badly, he’s endorsed someone who can’t win, who has no chance of winning.”
Former President and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, N.H., on Dec. 16, 2023. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
It was the same rally that President Trump’s comment, “They are poisoning the blood of our country,” was translated into hate speech against immigrants.
President Trump made the comment immediately after estimating that “15 or 16 million” immigrants had crossed illegally into the United States under the Biden administration. It also followed concerns he expressed about rising crime and how a lack of proper vetting process was allowing terrorists to enter the United States undetected.
Nevertheless, some media outlets compared President Trump to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler for making the comment.
Ms. Haley has herself been aggressive in her position on illegal immigration. She has consistently promised a sweeping catch-and-deport policy in her first days in office and has repeatedly called for the defunding of sanctuary cities.
Asked by an audience member at one of her campaign stops in New Hampshire what she would do with the millions of illegal immigrants who crossed into the United States under the Biden administration’s open border policy, Ms. Haley said, “I know this is going to sound harsh, but you send them back.”
Former U.N. ambassador and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley speaks at a town hall campaign event at Kennett High School in North Conway, N.H., on Dec. 28, 2023. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Ms. Haley, who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, went on to explain, “The reason you send them back is because my parents, they came here legally; they put in the time, and they put in the price. And when you allow those six or seven million that come—to all those people who’ve done it the right way—you’re letting them jump the line.”
She has also called for hiring 87,000 border agents instead of the 87,000 IRS new hires proposed by the Biden administration, a plan disclosed by IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel at an April 27 House Ways and Means Committee hearing.
However, when asked to comment on President Trump’s comments that illegal immigration is poisoning the blood of America, Ms. Haley criticized the former president.
“I think we need to do whatever it takes to actually stop this inflow of illegal immigrants,” Ms. Haley told the Des Moines Register.“ She warned that illegal immigration could have potential consequences similar to 9/11, but she added, ”I don’t think you have to have that rhetoric to do it. That rhetoric is not helpful.”
