Former President Donald Trump emerged victorious in the New Hampshire Republican Primary, defeating his closest competitor, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, by a comfortable margin of 12 points. However, despite the win, Trump’s grip on the Republican electorate may be not as strong as previously thought. Voter analysis conducted by Fox News indicates that more than one-third of the 1,800 voters surveyed stated that they would not vote for Trump under any circumstances, raising concerns about his ability to secure a general election victory.
Interestingly, the New Hampshire Primary is unique in that it allows unaffiliated voters to register on the day of voting, meaning that voters who align as Independent or Democrat are able to participate in the GOP primary. This dynamic could have played a role in the surprisingly lower percentage of the vote that Trump received in the Granite State, where he only garnered 54.5% of the vote.
Notably, despite Trump’s declaration of a “huge victory,” there may be cause for caution and scrutiny. The margin of victory wasn’t as significant as some had predicted, leading to Trump’s surrogates calling for Haley to exit the race. Additionally, the data gleaned from the aforementioned voter analysis suggests that there may be more profound issues concerning Trump’s electability in the general election than was previously thought.
Steve Doocy reported the results of the polling data on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning, noting 62% of unaffiliated voters in New Hampshire went for Nikki Haley, while 83% of “very conservative” primary voters in the state went for Donald Trump.
“But here is the rub,” Doocy said, noting how “a lot of major publications today are talking about this.” He then posed the question asked of pollsters, “How would you feel if Trump wins the nomination?” It turns out that only 53% of Republicans said would be very satisfied.”
“But here’s the problem for the former president,” he continued. “According to our voter analysis, 35% of Republicans said they would not vote for Donald Trump.” He added that a Politico article reported that “43% of Nikki Haley voters yesterday would vote for Joe Biden.”
