Trump easily wins New Hampshire’s Republican primary – but protest candidate Bill Weld gets 9 per cent of the vote in early returns
- Trump was leading with 85 per cent of the vote
- Former Gov. Massachusetts Gov. William Weld put up a better showing than he did in Iowa
- South Carolina and a group of other states cancelled their GOP primaries
- Former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh dropped out of the race during run up to primary
- The president was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial, and has forced out officials who testified against him
- Trump blew away a divided Republican New Hampshire field in 2016
- Trump held a rally in Manchester Monday night
President Donald Trump walked away with the win in Republican primary in New Hampshire Tuesday – although opposition candidate William Weld registered a much stronger showing than he did in Iowa.
Trump was leading with 86 per cent of the vote with almost a third of the vote in. Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, who was campaigning across the state for months, was below 10 per cent of the vote.
It was the second easy victory for the president in as many weeks. In Iowa he won with 97 per cent of the vote, trouncing Weld and former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh, who ended his bid last week.
President Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary by a wide margin Tuesday night
Trump doesn’t even have to worry about a primary in a group of states that includes South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Kansas and others where party leaders eliminated the primary altogether.
Trump was already in a very strong position within the party, but the nixed primaries deprive ‘never Trumpers’ the chance to air their case.
He came to the state for a Manchester rally that drew thousands Monday night, but that was in part designed to sow discord in Democratic ranks (he called for new registrants to back Sen. Bernie Sanders or whichever candidate was weakest), while also padding his mailing list and feeding his base of support.
President Donald Trump speaks during an election rally before the New Hampshire Primary at Southern New Hampshire University Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, 10 February 2020. He urged supporters who weren’t registered to pick the weaker candidate in the Demoratic primary
Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld waves to voters at the Webster Elementary School during the presidential primary on February 11, 2020 in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was getting 9 percent of the vote with more than a third of precincts reporting
Former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh ended his presidential bid days before the New Hampshire primary
Trump also prevailed in New Hampshire in 2016, where he trounced a divided field on his way to the White House. But Democrat Hillary Clinton defeated him in November 2016 in a state where her husband staged his famous political comeback.
Weld has blasted Trump on the campaign trail. He wrote in the Manchester Union Leader Sunday before his defeat: ‘Just as he has done throughout his business career and personal life, Donald Trump bullied his way through being only the third President in history to be impeached. He was not removed from office by the Senate — not because he was found “not guilty”, but because he threatened, stonewalled and played the process.’ He predicted voters would remove Trump in November.