Here's how New Hampshire
Governor Chris Sununu,
one of Haley's biggest supporters,
tried to play,
trying to downplay Trump's
big win in Iowa last night.
He's effectively the incumbent,
if you think of it that way.
So the incumbent president
barely could get 50%
of his own base voters.
I don't know.
I don't think that's
I think there's a huge opportunity
for America saying
let's move forward with something new.
CNN's Kristen Holmes
is in Athens, in New Hampshire.
And Kristen,
we're waiting on Donald Trump
to speak there.
What do we expect to hear
following his big victory in Iowa?
Well, you're likely to hear him
attacking Nikki Haley.
You know, we've talked a lot
about the fact that Nikki
Haley keeps saying that
this is a two person race,
despite the fact
that she came in third in Iowa.
But when it comes to New Hampshire,
Donald Trump's team
does see this as a two person race.
And just to be clear,
that is not the entire primary,
but this state in particular,
Florida Governor Ron
DeSantis, does not have
a ground game here.
But Trump's advisers have been watching
closely as Nikki
Haley's poll numbers have risen.
This is a completely different
electorate here,
and they are aware of that.
So expect
new attacks on the former
South Carolina governor
and expect him to really take aim at her,
just like we have seen the campaign
and the super PAC do.
I spoke to a senior adviser today
and they are looking at this
in two parts.
One, securing Republican and conservative
conservative leaning independents.
They are doing that
by taking on Nikki
Haley on immigration,
which they believe is a key issue
for Republicans in this state.
Now, they are also hitting her
on Social Security and Medicare.
That is their way of taking her
on with independents, moderates
and even left leaning independents.
They believe this is two parts.
What they know
is going to happen here in New Hampshire
is that some of these left
leaning independents
and moderates
are going to come out to vote
just to vote against Donald Trump.
Their goal here
is to make that as small as possible
and to chip away at those independents
so that there are more Republicans
who support the former president
coming out next Tuesday.
All right, Kristen Holmes,
thank you so much.
Let's discuss with our our panel.
Let me just start with
the Social Security attack,
if I can, Margaret, with you, because
Social Security is on a path to to.
So either
they will not be able to pay out
full benefits to everyone.
That's just a fact
we're gonna have to work toward. Yes.
So and there's also just the fact
that either
benefits need to be cut or means tested.
Taxes need to go up.
Some combination of the two,
I mean, like, these are just facts
and this is why it doesn't get solved,
is because Nikki Haley
barely acknowledges this fact
and she gets hammered. Absolutely.
But because this is about politics
and there are some third rails
in politics to what is truth
telling on things like this.
But why is that an argument
that you would pursue in New Hampshire?
Because it's a live free or die state.
So we've all been talking about
how Iowa is a different contest
in New Hampshire.
It's not just because there's not
as many evangelicals
is not just because it's a primary state
and not a caucus state,
but it is because sort of
taxation and the government's
reach into you
from a fiscal
standpoint is a much more salient
issue in New Hampshire.
And that's where Nikki Haley,
she may not have the momentum.
She wanted to have to go
barreling into New Hampshire,
but she's still,
you know,
done a lot of the groundwork,
got a lot of fans there, independents
as well as Republicans.
Social Security is an area
that could make a difference.
Let's talk
about what happened last night, Doug.
Not only did Trump score
a resounding victory,
historic victory in Iowa
with 51% of the vote
in our CNN entrance
polls of caucus goers was on their minds
as they walked into the caucuses.
Most Iowa GOP caucus goers
refused to accept the fact
that Biden won legitimately in 2020.
It's just a fact.
And 20 and 66% of them deny that fact.
They also say they would view former
President Donald Trump
as fit for office
even if he is convicted of a crime.
65% say, yes, they'll still vote for him.
What's your reaction to this
and what should the campaigns of Haley
and this antis do with that information?
Yeah, well,
this also reflects
where the Republican candidates are.
Most of the Republican candidates
overwhelmingly would pardon Donald Trump
and would vote for him
if he were convicted.
So maybe voters
shouldn't behave very differently
or shouldn't be expected to.
But this is how Donald Trump
has become so powerful over
not just the past year
but over the past several years.
He's able to be the insurgent
and the incumbent at the same time.
He's able to be the hero
and the victim at the same time.
Both of those are very powerful.
And what we've seen over the past year
is any time
that Donald Trump gets indicted,
his opponents,
Nikki Haley, Ron
DeSantis and others, everybody
except for basically Chris Christie,
not only don't attack him,
they use his own language
to defend him and say that he's a victim,
that there are two
tiered system of justice.
So if this primary season is smooth
skating for Donald Trump
as it's icy outside,
I think he can thank Ron
DeSantis, his campaign, and Nikki
Haley's campaign for being a Zamboni
to make sure that there was no no
cracks in that ice for him.
You know, the other thing, though,
so important about that data point is
that's why he keeps
repeating the big lie.
That's why
we are going to hear it all
the way to Election Day 2024,
because it works,
because it's solidify and repeating.
It works, right? Exactly.
Just like for those who follow the lost
Cause mythology about the Civil War,
who just repeated those lies. Right.
It's a similar kind of mindset,
and you'll be heard
going into the caucus.
A lot of voters of his voters
specifically saying,
I don't care about the general election.
Maybe she can win.
He was robbed.
He deserves another chance.
And so I think what that means,
both for the other Republicans,
I think it's part of why
you're seeing Nikki Haley
rather than a frontal attack
like Chris Christie
trying to just say, look,
this is about generational change.
This is about we don't want chaos.
And he's focused on the past,
trying to create a little bit
more of a bridge
to people who maybe are open
to not voting for Trump.
So earlier today,
Nikki
Haley made a claim that the US
has never been a racist country.
Take a listen. Yeah.
Are you a racist party?
Are you involved in a racist
war?
We're not a racist country, Bryan.
We've never been a racist country.
Our goal is to make sure
that today is better than yesterday.
Are we perfect?
No, I know
I faced racism when I was growing up,
but I can tell you,
today is a lot better than it was then.
Haley's campaign
followed this up
with a statement
later on saying, quote,
America has always had racism in racism,
but America
has never been a racist country.
The liberal media always fails
to get that distinction.
What do you make of this?
Racism is alive and well
and thriving
in the United States of America.
I actually have a piece on me
going on CNN. But is the U.S.
but is the U.S.
a racist country as the issue?
No, but I think we have
I believe that systemic racism,
which is an outgrowth of white supremacy,
which came out of,
you know,
reconstruction and the Civil War
and became the lost cause mythology
which justified white supremacy,
which created racist systems.
So, absolutely,
just like there's still sexist systems,
it does still exist.
That doesn't mean that
what's
and I know this in my own life
as a person who was biracial, right?
That that
does not mean that what is in people's
hearts is always that they are racist
or that they have hate.
For some it is,
but for others
it means
maybe they just don't have a way
to see the other side or understand
how we all live
differently and experience
this world differently.
I mean, the country was founded on
the premise
that all men are created equal
as long as they were
white and men and landowners and her So.
So, I mean, you can Christian,
you can be honest about history
and still have a positive outlook on
how far the country has come.
But but you can't change history.
And that's
where if Nikki Haley wants to continue
to make
a general election argument,
the courage that she showed
in taking down
the biggest symbol
of that
when she took down the Confederate flag
in South Carolina and did so
by bringing Republicans
and Democrats, politicians
and business interests together,
That's something that should
real leadership
and real courage under pressure.
That was an interview with Fox.
Of course,
she wasn't going to acknowledge it there.
And look,
she's giving voters
a bit of an excuse to say, look,
I'm a brown person from the South
and I'm saying it's okay.