SALEM, New Hampshire — Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley spent the final night before the make-or-break New Hampshire primary pushing back against an onslaught of attacks from former President Donald Trump.
The two candidates are amid a heated battle to win Tuesday’s Granite State primary, which could cement Trump as the inevitable front-runner in the GOP or Haley as a seriously viable candidate against the former president.
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Haley sought to persuade voters that they could block Trump from winning the second nominating contest in the GOP if they show up on Election Day.
“It’s going to take a lot of courage, courage from everyone in this room, and in the overflow room,” Haley said before the overflow room of the Artisan Hotel could be heard cheering.
The audience then began to chant, “Nikki! Nikki! Nikki!” before Haley continued her speech.
“Don’t complain about what happens in a general election if you don’t go vote tomorrow,” Haley warned.
Trump will also address supporters Monday night during a 9 p.m. rally in Laconia, New Hampshire, which will feature several GOP presidential candidates who dropped out of the race such as Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND).
He has also rolled out several endorsements from South Carolina lawmakers, including Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), in an effort to embarrass Haley, a two-term Palmetto State governor.
But Haley was unfazed during her rally.
“Well the reason they’re with him is because when I was governor, I made every one of them had to start showing their vote on the record instead of hiding behind voice votes, which they were doing before,” Haley claimed Monday night. “I made them pass ethics reform, which they didn’t want to do, which made it better for everybody.”
Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), the popular leader backing Haley’s campaign, also implored voters to support Haley on Election Day, citing Trump’s history of causing the GOP to lose after getting elected in 2016.
“Hey, Donald Trump, where the F is the red wave?” Sununu taunted right before he introduced Haley onstage.
Despite the criticisms, Trump leads Haley in New Hampshire polls by an average of 18 percentage points. He romped Haley by 32 percentage points during last week’s Iowa caucuses and could very likely defeat her on Tuesday.
In one notable moment during Haley’s rally, an attendee asked Haley to marry him. “Will you vote for me?” Haley quipped back.
“No, I’m going to vote for Trump,” the man said before organizers escorted him out of the event.
Haley’s campaign released a “Donald Trump can’t stop lying” ad on Tuesday that corrects the record on Trump’s alleged falsehoods comparing him to President Joe Biden.
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“It’s amazing to me how Joe Biden can say to you, ‘We’ve got a great economy,’ and we’re supposed to believe it,” Haley says in the ad. “It’s amazing how Donald Trump does the same thing and tells you things and just thinks you’re gonna believe it.”
She also directly addressed Trump’s claims against her during the rally. “I want to tell you every single one of those commercials by Donald Trump is a lie,” Haley said. “Check the fact checkers.”