LACONIA, N.H.–As voters prepare for the nation’s first primary election of 2024, two former presidential hopefuls have joined former President Donald Trump in his call for Republicans to unite behind him to defeat Democrat President Joe Biden.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and North Dakota’s governor Doug Burgum underscored the importance of that mission in separate interviews with The Epoch Times on Monday, just hours before voters would start casting ballots here.
The Granite State’s first-in-nation primary follows President Trump’s decisive Jan. 15 win in the Iowa Caucus.
Mr. Scott, Mr. Burgum, and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) all expressed confidence that today’s primary will seal the deal for President Trump to become the GOP’s presidential nominee.
“This race is over. I’m telling you, this thing’s over,” Mr. Donalds told The Epoch Times on Monday. “I mean, obviously, we have to get the job done tomorrow [Tuesday, Jan. 23]. I think we will. As long as that holds, we’re pretty much done.”
President Trump is in the thick of his third campaign for the presidency. He won in 2016, but then-candidate Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, a result many people dispute to this day.
Messrs. Scott, Burgum, and Donalds were among the speakers who took the stage at the Margate Resort here before President Trump addressed an overflow crowd. Due to fire officials limiting the capacity to 655 attendees, some people were turned away after waiting for hours in the cold.
World is Watching
The energy of President Trump’s supporters propelled him to a landslide in Iowa, Mr. Burgum said, and he thinks it will produce another historic win in New Hampshire.Such a victory would “send a message, not just to the nation,” he said. “Every terrorist group in the world is going to be watching these results because when they see that Donald Trump is going to win the nomination, they know they better start making some different plans.”
Mr. Burgum said that, in his opinion, “Joe Biden’s appeasement, his weakness, has led to war,” referring to the conflict between Hamas terrorists and the nation of Israel that began raging in October 2023.
In contrast, under President Trump’s leadership, “his strength led to peace, and we need more of that,” Mr. Burgum said.
Mr. Burgum said he’s confident that President Trump will beat President Biden, adding: “This is the leader that’s got the strength and the experience to lead us in the right direction.”
He, along with Mr. Donalds and Mr. Scott, has been mentioned among dozens of potential running mates for the former president. But Mr. Scott said, “I think all the rumors about who’s going to be his VP are just that, rumors. He probably knows who he’s going to pick; none of us know.”
Conditions Under Trump Versus Biden
Mr. Scott, who recently announced that his girlfriend, Mindy Noce, accepted his marriage proposal, launched his speech by quipping: “Roses are red, violets are blue. Firing Joe Biden, it’s just the thing to do.”The audience chuckled and so did he. But Mr. Scott later told The Epoch Times that the situation is serious. “Getting engaged over the weekend, I’m feeling poetic,” he said. “But the truth is also that Joe Biden destroyed our economy.”
“Millennials today cannot afford to buy a house. We [have] never seen interest rates this high in more than 20 years. For the poorest Americans, this makes it nearly impossible to build equity in this nation,” he said. In contrast, during President Trump’s administration, inflation was around 2 percent and 30-year home mortgages were being offered for about 3 percent interest.
“Those days are gone,” Mr. Scott lamented. He blames President Biden’s policies, saying: “Joe Biden fundamentally misunderstands economics.”
Messrs. Scott, Burgum, and Donalds concurred: President Trump is the best-qualified candidate to address the nation’s burgeoning problems, including a spate of illegal immigration and soaring inflation.
“With how bad Joe Biden has been, we need somebody who can step in on Day One,” and fix the problems, Mr. Donalds told The Epoch Times and other news outlets. He listed the names of some other candidates who “couldn’t do that” including former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The latter two candidates recently suspended their campaigns, leaving Ms. Haley as the sole remaining challenger to President Trump. She has mounted a vigorous campaign in New Hampshire, a state widely considered to be her best shot for a victory. Ms. Haley enjoys backing from Democrats-turned-Republicans and many independent voters in the “live free or die” state.
Reasons to Unite
Mr. Scott said the significance of the election is bigger than any one candidate.“It shouldn’t be about me. It shouldn’t be about Nikki Haley. It shouldn’t even be about Donald Trump. It’s about the American people,” he said. “And what the American people will benefit from is a single-minded, focused Republican Party making sure that Donald Trump is not only our nominee but is our president.”
Mr. Donalds agreed. “This is about the future of our country,” he said. “I would urge people: It’s time for us to unite because we’re dealing with radicals in the White House who are destroying this country.”
“We’ve got to unite as a party … so we can fix this country and get it back for not only ourselves but for our kids,” he said. Asked how the party would unite after a campaign that has, at times, turned contentious, Mr. Donalds replied: “We do it all the time. It’s not the first time it’s been a hard-fought campaign. And to be honest with you, this one’s actually been a lot more mild than some of the other ones.”
Mr. Burgum told reporters that the GOP can and should rise above the vitriol and welcome Ms. Haley back into the fold after the race is over; he doubts she will win the nomination over President Trump.
“Of course, we want to be a ‘big-tent’ party,” Mr. Burgum said, “And we need we need to have a whole range of Republicans and independents to help us win in swing states.”
“People that voted for Joe Biden in 2020 need to come back and vote for President Trump in 2024,” he said. “When they understand exactly how disastrous Joe Biden has been to this country, those swing voters are going to decide the election.”
