2024 election polls: Trump maintains his lead over Haley in New Hampshire days before primary

Here’s an interesting insight into the former South Carolina governor’s strategy for the Granite State heading into next week as she responds to criticism of her low-key approach to campaigning in the state post-Iowa.

She’s still well behind in the polls, however, although roaring away from DeSantis.

NBC News reports that Donald Trump is “planning on testifying” at his second trial for defaming E Jean Carroll, which resumes on Monday in New York.

If he is attending court on Monday he will be heading straight for the airport afterwards as he is scheduled to deliver remarks in Laconia, New Hampshire at 9pm.

With less than four days left until voting begins, Friday’s poll results show the former president at 52 per cent, (+2 points from Wednesday’s poll). Former UN Ambassador Haley has 35 per cent of likely voters (+1 point), and Florida Governor DeSantis is trailing far behind at six per cent.

Mr Trump is scheduled to fly in from Florida to campaign over the weekend including getting a reported endorsement from Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Ms Haley’s home state.

I regret to inform you but “the only candidate who will tell the truth” has been caught lying.

The former South Carolina governor said Mr Trump’s personal attacks mean he is feeling “threatened” and “insecure” as they head towards the state’s 2024 GOP presidential contest.

Martha McHardy has the full story:

In the same broadcast, she also tried to defend her odd contention that the US has “never” been a racist country.

Martha McHardy has this report on the candidate tying herself in knots.

Senator Tim Scott, a one-time 2024 GOP presidential rival of Donald Trump’s, will endorse the former president’s bid to return to the White House at a rally in New Hampshire on Friday evening.

The New York Times reports that the senator from South Carolina is travelling to Florida today to fly up to the Granite State with Mr Trump for a weekend of campaigning ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

Senator Scott is the highest-ranking elected Black Republican and his endorsement of the former president will reignite speculation that he could be a contender to be Mr Trump’s running mate, should he win the party’s nomination.

Mr Scott ended his own campaign on 12 November and has since come to the conclusion that the former president is the best candidate to beat President Joe Biden in November, the Times reports citing a “person familiar with his thinking”.

Mr Trump appeared to avoid criticising the senator when they were in competition for the party’s nomination.

The decision of the senator from South Carolina is potentially a setback for Nikki Haley — as governor of South Carolina, she appointed Mr Scott to the Senate in 2012.

This might be why Trump was so particularly nasty about Haley today.

The candidate attacked both her Republican rival and the president over their advancing years during her appearance on a CNN town hall last night.

Haley has hit back at Trump on X over his earlier rant, choosing to ignore the former president’s racist attempt to invoke her Indian heritage in a nod to a bogus “birther” conspiracy theory doing the rounds that falsely implies she was not born in the United States,

The former UN Ambassador and ex-South Carolina governor wrote: “Another reason we need to move on from Trump: too many lies.

“Democrats can’t vote in the NH primary. They haven’t been able to change their registration for months.”

She continued: “I was tougher on China and Russia than Trump ever was. He praised Xi a dozen times after China gave the world Covid.

“I passed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country as governor. I did more to protect South Carolinians than he did to protect Americans.

“But we all know that’s why he won’t debate me. Have a great day!”

Just before jetting out for New Hampshire this morning, Trump took time out to lambast the state’s governor Chris Sununu on Truth Social, also hitting out at Nikki Haley in a surprisingly brutal attack on an opponent he claims to be beating easily.

Referring to her as “Nimbra”, an apparently deliberate misspelling of her given name “Nimarata” to draw attention to her Indian heritage, the Orange One wrote on Truth Social that she “doesn’t have what it takes”.

“She’s weak on China, Russia, Borders, and Crime, but never saw a war she didn’t like,” he added.