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Tag: Hampshire

  • As Trump rallies in New Hampshire, legal woes play in real time

    As Trump rallies in New Hampshire, legal woes play in real time

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    For Trump, it’s barely a blip. The former president’s polling lead over his 2024 Republican rivals has grown as his legal morass deepens. A recurring joke he made again Thursday about being served a subpoena if he so much as flies over a Democratic-leaning state drew laughs and applause from those attending.

    Trump supporters at his campaign rally in downtown Manchester were unfazed by the latest developments in his legal woes, accusing Democrats of weaponizing the judicial system against the former president and dismissing as more noise the civil defamation lawsuit in which Trump is accused of rape.

    “It’s just a lot of distraction,” said Bert Sooner, a 60-year-old Republican and Trump supporter from Gilmanton, N.H.

    “If anything,” Trump’s legal troubles “just seem to propel him,” Sooner added.

    Trump returned to New Hampshire on Thursday for the first time since his legal drama deepened and since Biden launched his reelection campaign.

    The former president made no direct mention of the lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who alleges Trump sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of a luxury department store in the 1990s, that began Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. Trump has denied Carroll’s account, saying the episode “never happened.” He was admonished by the judge overseeing the proceedings on Wednesday over a social media post in which he called the lawsuit “a made up SCAM.”

    Instead, he used a speech on economic policy to hurl insults at Biden — including slapping the “crooked” label he’s long affixed to Hillary Clinton’s name to Biden instead. Trump repeatedly attacked Biden, calling him a “hopeless person” and a “threat to democracy” who “doesn’t have a clue.” And he touted his record on the economy, saying that he left Biden with “a booming economy” but that the president “blew it to shreds.”

    Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, pushed back immediately.

    “Trump’s lies won’t change the fact he holds the worst jobs record of any president since the Great Depression and rigged the economy for the ultra-wealthy and biggest corporations,” Moussa said in a statement. “Trump’s stewardship of the economy was an abject disaster, in stark contrast to the over 12 million jobs the Biden-Harris administration has helped deliver for America in just two years.”

    Trump also laid into his potential Republican rivals, citing polling that shows him with double-digit leads to rib Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — “Ron DeSanctus” — former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, whose name drew immediate and loud boos from the crowd in his home state. A Fox News poll out Wednesday showed Trump with a 32-point lead over DeSantis.

    Trump leaned on his polling leads to revive his threats to skip a presidential primary debate. The former president and his advisers have privately raised concerns about the debate slated for August, saying it’s too far in advance of the first nominating contests, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

    “Nixon and Reagan and Bush … no, they didn’t debate in the primaries,” Trump said on Thursday. “Seriously, you look at the boards … and you’re looking at these numbers. Why would you do that?”

    “But I do look forward to the debate with Joe — Crooked Joe,” he added.

    Trump’s legal problems extend beyond the two that bubbled up behind the scenes on Thursday. The former president faces 34 felony charges in New York related to an alleged scheme to bury allegations of extramarital affairs ahead of the 2016 presidential election. And on Monday, the Atlanta-area district attorney, Fani Willis, indicated that more charges might be on the horizon for Trump this summer in a case related to efforts by him and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.

    But in New Hampshire, the former president did not back down.

    “I won a second time by far more votes, but it was a rigged election,” he told the crowd to cheers, calling for tighter restrictions on voting, including all-paper ballots, voter ID laws and strictly same-day voting.

    “I don’t even care if you help me campaign — you don’t have to help me,” he told the crowd. “I just want help on making sure the vote is cast and counted fairly.”

    More concerned about border security and the economy than Trump’s legal troubles, rally-goers who in some cases drove five hours to see the former president erupted at his claims about the 2020 election, unburdened by concerns about what could be contained in the former vice president’s ongoing testimony.

    “It doesn’t play at all,” New Hampshire state Rep. John Leavitt, a Republican who endorsed Trump on Thursday and joined him onstage, said of the various investigations and court proceedings surrounding Trump. “It’s in the past.”

    Clad in their bright red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps and draped in American flags and denim jackets with Trump’s face plastered across them, voter after voter brushed aside the various legal proceedings against Trump as the latest in a long line of attacks that haven’t stuck.

    “I think it’s all B.S.,” said Christine Smith, a Republican from Derry, N.H.

    Trump hasn’t held a campaign rally in New Hampshire since 2020 and hasn’t been in the state since late January, when he addressed GOP insiders at the party’s state committee meeting.

    On Thursday, he packed The Armory function hall at the downtown DoubleTree hotel to its 750-person capacity, according to security, rallying hundreds of his stalwarts in the same room where DeSantis wowed Republican activists just two weeks ago with a burst of unexpected retail politicking after headlining a party fundraising dinner. Trump aides said the choice of location was a coincidence.

    Even in a smaller venue than Trump supporters in this state are accustomed to — the former president typically favors the arena down the street — his supporters were enraptured by his return. They cheered and jeered in all the right places of his speech, which stretched over an hour and a half. Even as the crowd thinned slightly toward the end, dozens of people rushed the stage barriers when Trump began to work the rope line, signing hats and saluting his fans.

    Jeffrey Duran, a Republican wearing a black T-shirt with a fake Trump mugshot on it and a hat with the former president’s John Hancock scrawled across the rim, stood toward the back of the fawning crowd and blasted the legal proceedings against Trump as “political persecution.”

    “The justice system is being weaponized and used against the American people. If they can do it to him, silence the [former] president, they could do it to anybody. It’s totally un-American,” said Duran, who drove up from New York City to attend the rally. “It backfires on them, on the people who are pointing the fingers at him.”

    Lisa Kashinsky reported from Manchester, and Kelly Garrity from Washington

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    #Trump #rallies #Hampshire #legal #woes #play #real #time
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • DeSantis bucks his robot reputation in New Hampshire

    DeSantis bucks his robot reputation in New Hampshire

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    DeSantis was swarmed for photos after his speech, despite officials pleading with people to stay in their seats so the governor could move about the room. He worked the 500-person crowd at the Amos Tuck dinner in downtown Manchester for over an hour, a flurry of handshakes and photos that the state party chair said was unplanned and that defies the notion that he lacks retail skills.

    DeSantis might have a big enough reputation that he can skip over the small rooms other presidential contenders have to work. But he’s trying to walk the walk in this small state that prides itself on putting politicians through the retail-politics wringer, and is expected to follow up his star turn in Manchester with some smaller stops on Saturday.

    And that could spell trouble for his would-be rivals in the polling single-digits, who’ve been betting big on early state retail politicking to set themselves apart from their big-name competitors — DeSantis and former President Donald Trump, who is still No. 1 in the polls.

    “If you’re in New Hampshire and you’re running a sustained grassroots campaign, town hall-style meetings — I know Nikki Haley has several coming up — then you’re able to slowly build up a presence with the right message. And that’s the way to penetrate the Trump-DeSantis narrative and get yourself into the top level of the presidential race,” veteran New Hampshire GOP strategist Mike Dennehy said.

    But “I don’t think you can come once a month for a couple of days, and have a couple of town hall meetings, and stop by a couple of diners, and have that be enough of an effort to make a difference,” he said.

    Haley has stuck to that cadence since her launch, coming through New Hampshire once a month for a series of town halls that she argues are her key to beating Trump.

    “I am not going to focus on doing big rallies,” Haley told a small crowd at the Derry-Salem Elks Lodge last month when asked how she planned to defeat Trump in the primary. “We’re going to touch hands over and over and over again. … You have to go face to face. You can’t just fly in and out.”

    While Haley plots her return to New Hampshire, Vivek Ramaswamy is in the midst of a 10-county bus tour through the state that’s taking him from breweries to civic-engagement centers.

    And the first stop Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) made in New Hampshire since declaring his presidential exploratory committee was to work the counter at the cramped Red Arrow Diner in Manchester.

    As DeSantis inches closer to a presidential bid, he’s going to need to find a way to keep the single-digit candidates at bay while competing against the party’s other rock star: Trump.

    “Only Donald Trump can come and campaign with tens of thousands of people in an arena. Most candidates in New Hampshire are going to have to commit to going to living rooms and backyard barbecues — and that includes Ron DeSantis,” former New Hampshire GOP Chair Wayne MacDonald, who chaired former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s 2016 campaign in New Hampshire, said in an interview. “If he’s not prepared to do that, then he’s going to have a problem in New Hampshire.”

    DeSantis not only sold out the state GOP’s major fundraising dinner on Friday, but he helped the party raise a record $382,000 — in part by asking his own donors to pitch in.

    And the governor’s impromptu glad-handing sent the already star-struck crowd of party activists into a tizzy. They mobbed him as he shuffled from table to table, chattering about the unseasonably warm weather — “I’m taking credit for it” — and clasping hands.

    But Friday was just DeSantis’ introduction to a state known for weeding out politicians who can’t hoof it on the trail.

    “My advice to [DeSantis] is to accept the invitation to the Belknap County Republican Committee cruise on June 2,” Belknap County Republican Chair Gregg Hough said. “There will be 300 to 500 of the state’s most important Republicans, and if he wants to have a crack at this place, he’s going to have to do that.”

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    #DeSantis #bucks #robot #reputation #Hampshire
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Controversial judge tests New Hampshire senators’ clout

    Controversial judge tests New Hampshire senators’ clout

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    Several Democrats are privately balking at the nomination. And it would be a second significant loss for the New Hampshire senators, after their unsuccessful effort to dissuade President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party from ending New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary in 2024. While colleagues speak reverently of the two Democrats, Delaney will test just how much influence they really wield.

    Some in the caucus have started to quietly question why Shaheen and Hassan, who are known for their collaborative natures and prevailing in tough Senate races, are going to the mat for a nominee with such a controversial record. And even the duo’s best efforts may not be enough.

    “There’s a lot of concerns that are being aired from groups that I really respect. I’m going to listen to them, I’m going to read their statements and things to me. I’m going to learn more,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. He also described Hassan and Shaheen as “two dear friends whose judgment I trust.”

    Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), another member of the panel who has spoken to both senators, was also noncommittal: “I haven’t decided how I’m going to vote for him yet. That’s all I’m going to say at the moment.”

    It’s a rare step into the spotlight for the Democratic pair of Granite Staters, who are known more for cutting bipartisan deals than stirring up trouble. But when it comes to Delaney, they’re not holding back.

    In making her case to confirm Delaney, Shaheen said in a brief interview that she’d told the caucus about “what a great job he did as attorney general and in private practice” and wants “to correct the misinformation that’s been put out there about him.”

    Concerns about Delaney extend beyond the legislative branch. Outside groups that typically align with the administration have expressed deep concerns or even outright opposition to Delaney. In addition, officials at the White House were uneasy about Delaney but felt they couldn’t pick a fight with the New Hampshire senators after the state lost its first-in-nation primary status, according to a person who was told by the White House.

    Biden pressed to reorganize the primary calendar on Dec. 1; Delaney was nominated on Jan. 18. Shaheen pushed back on any suggestion that the two events could be linked: “no connection at all.”

    “The President nominated Michael Delaney based on his three decades of legal experience, including his time as a front-line prosecutor combating violent crime, and his leadership fighting human trafficking,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates. “As is typical for judicial nominations, the President consulted with Senators Shaheen and Hassan; it would be very unusual if he hadn’t. Then the President made his call, and is standing shoulder to shoulder with New Hampshire’s Senators in support of this qualified nominee.”

    It’s also not unusual for home-state senators to have substantial sway over judicial nominees. In this case, Delaney would be New Hampshire’s pick on the New England-based First Circuit.

    While Shaheen and Hassan tout Delaney’s credentials, some Senate Democrats privately wonder why the two don’t cut their losses and go with another option. And there’s increased anxiety over nominees lately, given Democrats’ focus on confirming judges in divided government and the withdrawal of two high-profile nominees earlier this month.

    “Nobody seems to have a clear idea as to what explains their intensity,” said one Democratic senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation. “Except maybe they’re out on a limb. Maybe there’s a certain amount of competitive pride. They are such really great senators, you know, maybe there’s somebody else who could go right through.”

    Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), however, gets where Shaheen and Hassan are coming from. In his words, it’s a “small-state thing.”

    “If it were Rhode Island, I’d feel the same way,” he said. “You don’t get very many. If you do and you know the people [who are nominated] it’s much more tangible and real than if it’s just someone picked by your appointments advisory committee out of a stack of resumes.”

    Delaney’s representation of St. Paul’s School in a sexual assault case is perhaps his greatest obstacle. Delaney filed a motion that would have allowed the plaintiff, who was a minor at the time, to remain anonymous only if she and her representatives did not speak about the case publicly, spurring accusations that he was trying to silence an alleged victim of assault. Senate Republicans made the case a top focus during his confirmation hearing and Delaney is not expected to get any GOP votes in committee, where Democrats enjoy a one-seat majority when every senator is in attendance.

    But it’s more than just the school sexual assault case. Delaney has also drawn scrutiny from Democrats for signing on to a 2005 legal brief defending parental notification in abortion cases.

    A committee vote on Delaney’s nomination has been delayed for weeks, partly because of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) prolonged absence as she recovers from shingles. That gives the New Hampshire senators more time to convince their colleagues, although it’s left the nomination hanging in limbo for a while.

    “His entire career has demonstrated a commitment to justice,” Hassan said in an interview Tuesday. “He started sexual assault response teams as attorney general. And he has just extraordinary support statewide, from plaintiffs’ attorneys, from defense attorneys, from former New Hampshire Supreme Court Justices appointed by both parties.”

    Yet Judiciary Committee Democrats aren’t the only senators who are on the fence. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she’ll “review the full record if he’s voted out of committee.” And Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said he hasn’t begun considering the nomination.

    Still, Democratic senators respect the hustle from Shaheen and Hassan. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Judiciary panel, said Delaney “couldn’t have two better advocates.” Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also supports the nominee.

    And some Democrats say they’re surprised at the quandary that Delaney — and his backers — are now in. Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called Shaheen and Hassan’s advocacy “extraordinary. But it’s extraordinary the attacks that are coming at this nominee. So, you got to look at the wealth of support that this nominee has.”

    Asked if he will still put Delaney up for a vote, Durbin replied: “It’s on the calendar.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Sununu: If GOP primary were today, DeSantis would win New Hampshire

    Sununu: If GOP primary were today, DeSantis would win New Hampshire

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    “I’m not really focusing on the decision right now, there will be plenty of time for that,” Sununu said. “Right now my mission is making sure we’re making this party bigger, frankly. You can’t govern if you don’t win, and so I’m really focused on how do we win?”

    DeSantis has also not yet announced plans to run in 2024, though he is widely expected to join what could become a crowded Republican primary — a race that so far includes former President Donald Trump, former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Polls identify DeSantis as the only Republican who has anywhere near the current support of Trump.

    Sununu, known for being outspoken against Trump, also told Todd he would support the Republican nominee, whoever it may be — but he remains convinced that someone will defeat the former president in the primary.

    “I’m a lifelong Republican. I’m going to support the Republican nominee,” Sununu said. “As far as a former President Trump, I think he’s going to run — obviously he’s in the race. He’s not going to be the nominee. That’s just not going to happen.”

    “I just don’t believe the Republican Party is going to say that the best leadership for America tomorrow is yesterday’s leadership,” Sununu added. “That doesn’t make any sense. That is not in our DNA as Americans.”

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    #Sununu #GOP #primary #today #DeSantis #win #Hampshire
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Trump makes his first big move in New Hampshire

    Trump makes his first big move in New Hampshire

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    The choice of Stepanek signals a potential return to the roots of Trump’s 2016 campaign in the state that handed him his first primary win that year. Trump lost New Hampshire by a fraction of a point in that general election. Four years later, the state slipped away from him badly, as he lost to President Joe Biden by 7 points.

    “It’s a big deal. He was just the leader of our entire state party,” Karoline Leavitt, a former Trump aide who lost her congressional race here last year, said of Stepanek in an interview. “I think that sends a clear message to the rest of the Republican field that may be wanting to get in that New Hampshire is Trump’s territory.”

    But Stepanek’s involvement is rankling some Republican activists. State committee members were clamoring for a change in party leadership after a disastrous election in which the GOP’s slate of hard-right, pro-Trump congressional candidates got pummeled and the party lost seats in the state Legislature. Stepanek was expected to face a challenger for party chair before he decided not to seek a third term. That job now belongs to Chris Ager, who beat one of Trump’s 2020 state co-chairs, Lou Gargiulo, for the post.

    And it will do little to quell concern among some of Trump’s former allies in the state about the seriousness of his operation as he mounts his third bid for the White House.

    Associates from Trump’s past campaigns have expressed frustration with what they describe as lackluster — or nonexistent — communication since his November launch. At least one key ally was left in the dark about the former president’s visit this weekend, his first trip back to the state since 2020.

    And while Trump hats dotted the high school auditorium where party faithful gathered to hear him Saturday, several old allies and supporters say they’re holding off on recommitting as they wait to see how the Republican primary develops.

    Interviews with 20 former Trump aides and allies, veteran presidential campaign operatives and current and former party officials revealed heavy interest among Republican operatives and activists in his biggest potential rival — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

    And a University of New Hampshire survey released this week showed the Florida governor with a 12-point lead over Trump among likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters — despite DeSantis not setting foot in the state in recent months. Younger operatives in particular expressed an eagerness to be scooped up by DeSantis, whom they see as the next big thing.

    “President Trump starts the [New Hampshire] primary season as a frontrunner but his standing isn’t what it once was,” veteran New Hampshire consultant Jim Merrill said. “There is curiosity among voters and operatives alike to check out the potential field.”

    That new reality was on full display at Saturday’s party meeting, where a cardboard cutout of DeSantis greeted attendees heading to hear Trump speak. As Stepanek prepared to hand over the reins and return to the Trump campaign, outgoing Vice Chair Pamela Tucker was signing up volunteers for Ron to the Rescue, a pro-DeSantis super PAC formed after the midterms to boost the governor if he runs for president. It was one of two draft-DeSantis groups working the gathering.

    “I met so many people through the Trump organization when we developed that, and they’re all like: ‘Yeah, we need Ron DeSantis, because we want to win,’” Tucker said in an interview.

    Other potential contenders are also drawing interest — and have spent years cutting into Trump’s advantages in New Hampshire. Former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have become fixtures in the state after making several visits each the past two years. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has also made the trek north to “Politics & Eggs” at Saint Anselm, a prerequisite stop for would-be presidential hopefuls. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has headlined multiple party fundraisers over the years.

    The state’s popular four-term governor, Chris Sununu, is a wildcard. Sununu hasn’t ruled out a presidential bid and has been acting like someone who’s gearing up to run, though several seasoned operatives in the state doubt he’ll go for it after declining to run for Senate last year.

    Michael Biundo, a veteran New Hampshire GOP strategist who served as a national adviser on Trump’s 2016 campaign, said bringing on Stepanek was a “smart” move by the Trump team to try and allay concerns about his lack of operation in the state and curb chatter about his potential rivals.

    But, Biundo said, “they are going to need to do a lot more to change the reality on the ground.”

    The interviews with Republicans highlight the steep hurdles ahead for Trump in New Hampshire. Despite his pedigree as former president and de facto leader of the GOP, nothing will be handed to him.

    Some Republicans see Trump’s early trip as a sign the former president expects a crowded primary — and is willing to compete. They also caution that these are early days, and that Trump still has time to assemble a full team and organize his campaign, especially with other competitors taking their time getting in.

    Trump hit on that point repeatedly as he spoke Saturday to some 400 GOP activists — a contrast to the arena-size crowds he commanded in the run-up to the 2020 election.

    “I have two years,” Trump said to cheers. “I’m more angry now and I’m more committed now than I ever was.”

    Republicans have been waiting for Trump to emerge from Mar-a-Lago after keeping an uncharacteristically low profile since his fall announcement.

    His lack of infrastructure buildup in New Hampshire had concerned some Republicans who worked on his previous campaigns. His New Hampshire trip wasn’t added to his schedule until Monday, nearly two weeks after aides announced plans for an event in South Carolina.

    Fred Doucette, a former Trump campaign co-chair in the state who has not yet committed for 2024, said Trump “re-energized and re-engaged some of the people in New Hampshire” on Saturday, calling it “a good start.”

    Joshua Whitehouse, who served as Trump’s New Hampshire coalitions director in 2016 and went on to work in his administration, said in an interview that the former president’s “grassroots are still there” but that the “main gap is staffing and infrastructure.”

    “Once he puts those ducks in a row, he can be smooth sailing,” Whitehouse said.

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    #Trump #big #move #Hampshire
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )