The Washington Examiner’s Sarah Bedford stated Wednesday night that voters who were initially opposed to former President Donald Trump are now changing their minds, rather than opting to support his rival, Nikki Haley.
The assessment comes after Haley, the former United Nations ambassador, lost the Nevada Republican primary to the “none of these candidates” category by more than a 2-1 margin. Bedford, the investigations editor for the Washington Examiner, suggested that Haley may have initially believed that if she and Trump were the only Republican presidential candidates, she would be able to win over Republicans opposed to Trump and win the party’s 2024 nomination.
“That’s not happening,” Bedford said on Fox News’s Fox News at Night. “The non-Trump vote is not consolidating behind her. When Ron DeSantis dropped out, when Chris Christie dropped out, their voters went to Donald Trump.”
Bedford also stated that Haley might still be staying in the Republican primary race because she would have a better chance of beating President Joe Biden than Trump would. However, Bedford said that polling data have not reflected this, as the former president seems “electable against Joe Biden in a general election.”
When asked about voters expressing their frustrations with the Democratic Party, which could aid Republicans in the presidential election, Bedford stated that this is reflective of the “broader political realignment” that has occurred since Trump entered politics. Bedford argued that Trump has been able to attract support from working-class people, which has scrambled politics for the Democratic Party.
Former Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon agreed with Bedford’s statement, calling the Republican Party “the party of the working class,” while the Democratic Party is for “the elite.”
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In the wake of losing the Republican Nevada primary, Haley posted a statement on X that did not address the results, instead criticizing Republicans for “doing the same thing and getting the same result: chaos.” The party’s South Carolina primary will be held on Feb. 24, which could spell trouble for Haley if she loses in her home state.
Should Trump win the Republican Party’s nomination, it would set the stage for a rematch between him and Biden. Several polls have been favorable for the former president, including one that indicates voters believe Trump would handle the economy better than Biden, with Trump getting 55% of support against Biden’s 33%.
