Newsmax’s coverage leading up to the New Hampshire primary was largely pro-Trump and anti-non-Trump candidates, and that continued as the primary drew closer. A Jan. 21 article by Nick Koutsobinas touted the unsurprising endorsement of Trump by the right-wing CPAC conference. That was followed by a Jan. 22 article featuring Trump’s pollster criticizing Nikki Haley over trying to get the support of voters who had supported Ron DeSantis before he dropped out:
Nikki Haley is said to be banking on Ron DeSantis supporters coming to her side now that the Florida governor has suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, but pollster Jim McLaughlin told Newsmax on Monday that might be a misguided assumption.
“There weren’t that many DeSantis voters, especially in South Carolina and New Hampshire, when it was all said and done,” McLaughlin, whose firm is associated with former President Donald Trump’s campaign, told “The Chris Salcedo Show.” “It’s one of the reasons why [DeSantis] got out. But what you’re seeing in our polling, also what you’re seeing in some of these other polls that have come out in New Hampshire, the DeSantis voters go to Donald Trump by about a 2-to-1 ratio, sometimes even better. They are conservatives, and the DeSantis voters and Donald Trump, they have a lot in common.”
McLaughlin also complained that Haley offended Republican voters by admitting that racism exists:
McLaughlin said Haley, who is of Indian heritage, has hurt herself by claiming she was a victim of racism while growing up in the Deep South because of her brown skin.
“This doesn’t sell in Republican primaries,” McLaughlin said. “The whole, I am woman, hear me roar, I am brown. This is the kind of stuff that Republicans just despise. They want Americans to be united. They want Americans to be together.
“… This is the kind of messaging that just backfires with Republican primary voters. They don’t like it. They don’t like it when Joe Biden plays this card, and they’re not going to like it when Nikki Haley plays it.”
When Trump won the primary, Eric Mack gushed:
Former President Donald Trump won New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation Republican primary, while President Joe Biden won the Democrat primary, despite having to rely on write-in votes and skipping out on campaigning in the state.
“Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “SHE DIDN’T!!!”
Trump was given the projected victory by Newsmax right at 8 p.m. ET at the official closing of the polls.
Trump is the first Republican to sweep competitive votes in both Iowa and New Hampshire since 1976, when the two states cemented their status as the first nominating contests.
Trump’s victory in Iowa last week was a historic landslide and record margins, but the more independent state of New Hampshire figured to be better ground for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. It was, but still Trump pulled off the rare back-to-back victories in the first-in-the-nation caucus and primary states.
That was joined by another Mack article engaging in self-promotion for his employer, cheering that “Newsmax was the first mainstream media news outlet to call former President Donald Trump’s New Hampshire GOP primary Tuesday night right at 8 p.m. ET.” More Trump-gushing (and Haley-bashing) followed:
- Trump: ‘Not Your Typical Victory Speech; She Had a Very Bad Night’
- N.H. Registered Republicans Vote Trump; Undeclared for Haley
- Trump Rides to Victory on Strength of Backing by GOP Base (wire article)
- Eric Trump to Newsmax: ‘No Road Left’ for Haley After NH
- McLaughlin Pollsters to Newsmax: Momentum on Trump’s Side
- Ex-Sen. Santorum Rips Haley For Showing CNN at N.H. Watch Party
- Trump Sets Record for Most Votes in N.H. Primary
- Matt Schlapp to Newsmax: Haley Campaign ‘Delusional’
A wrap-up column by John Gizzi also seemed annoyed that Haley wasn’t going to immediately drop out:
Although many cheered on Haley’s defiant vow to continue fighting, others were not pleased. New Hampshire State GOP Chair Chris Ager told Newsmax “I was neutral in the primary and will remain neutral until we have a presumptive nominee. If President Trump wins our primary in the end by double digits, I would say that Gov. Haley should reassess her plans.”
Trump won New Hampshire 54.5% to 43.2% with 91% of votes counted, over Haley.
She also sounded very unlikely to reassess her plans.
An article by Sandy Fitzgerald focused on New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, which did admit that President Biden won despite being a write-in candidate but still hyped challenger Dean Phillips despite winning only 20 percent of the vote against a write-in candidate — even though that percentage was less than half of what Haley received. That was followed by an article featuring John McLaughlin concern-trolling that “President Joe Biden is resorting to censoring his opponents and trying to knock them off ballots to shore up a victory in 2024” — as if he and Newsmax weren’t trying to pressure Haley to quit the race to boost Trump.