LACONIA, New Hampshire — Former president Donald Trump finished up his New Hampshire campaign by rolling out a cadre of former opponents on stage, who have become some of his most high-profile supporters and rumored vice presidential candidates.
“I didn’t love him when he was running, but I like him now,” Trump said of entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out after the Iowa caucuses. “It’s amazing the way you can like somebody when you win.”
Ramaswamy joined Trump on stage to voice his support, and he wasn’t the only would-be presidential candidate to do so. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), who were participating in presidential campaigns last fall, both joined the Laconia rally to encourage Granite Staters to vote for Trump.
“If you want four more years of Donald Trump, let me hear you scream!” Scott said. “If you want the race to be over tomorrow, let me hear you scream! How many of you want four more years of low inflation under Donald Trump? How many of you want four more years of low crime and high law and order under Donald J. Trump?”
Scott, who recently got engaged, also warmed up the crowd at The Margate Resort an hour before Trump spoke, and was showered with special praise.
“Everybody knows him and today, it was a big story, the biggest story out there — he’s engaged to be married,” Trump said. “We never thought this was going to happen! What’s going on? A very, very fine person, a man that we worked so closely and I worked so closely with. He’s been there now a long time and is one of the most respected people in all of Washington, Senator Tim Scott.”
The South Carolina senator endorsed Trump last week, which was a big blow to the final non-Trump contender left in the GOP field.
Nikki Haley appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012 when she was the South Carolina governor, yet that wasn’t enough for her to earn Scott’s endorsement in the presidential race.
Haley has been rising in New Hampshire polls, reaching 36.7% in the RealClearPolitics polling average on the final day when she’d been below 20% in early December.
The problem for her is that Trump is rising as well, and is now averaging well over 50%. Haley’s campaign insists she doesn’t need to win New Hampshire to remain in the race, but speculation is mounting that a disappointing showing may force her out.
Burgum didn’t mention Haley but did say how Trump is favorable to President Joe Biden.
“I’ve had an opportunity to serve under Joe Biden as president and under Donald Trump,” the North Dakota governor said. “When Donald Trump was president, our nation was safe and our nation was prosperous. Joe Biden — his weakness has led to war, his weakness and his appeasement has led to our adversaries like Iran and Russia making hundreds of billions of dollars selling oil to China.”
Along with Scott, Burgum, and Ramaswamy, Trump also said that Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), were in the audience.
The show of force speaks to how Trump appears to be consolidating support from his former opposition. However, the Democratic National Committee pointed out several statements that the challengers made on the campaign trail blasting Trump.
“Donald Trump is too unpopular to win a general election, makes indefensible racially offensive comments, and is so untrustworthy he isn’t safe to do business with,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said. “Those aren’t our words — that’s what Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, and Doug Burgum said about Trump before caving to the leader of the GOP’s extreme MAGA movement.”
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The DNC highlighted statements from Scott saying that Trump can’t win Georgia, Ramaswamy saying Trump is too polarizing, and Burgum saying he wouldn’t do business with Trump.
New Hampshire’s voters will decide Tuesday how much they weigh those apparent conflicts or whether they’re ready to throw their weight behind Trump as the Republican standard bearer in 2024.
