Former President Donald Trump has won the New Hampshire primary, NBC News projects. His win cements his status as a (nearly) untouchable frontrunner in the GOP race for the White House. Barring an extraordinary event like a prison sentence from one of his criminal charges, Trump is on track to secure the Republican presidential nomination and challenge President Joe Biden on Election Day.
If there was anywhere that Trump was at serious risk of losing an early contest it would’ve been New Hampshire.
If there was anywhere that Trump was at serious risk of losing an early contest — and control of the narrative that he’s unbeatable — it would’ve been New Hampshire. New Hampshire Republicans are idiosyncratic: they skew more secular, educated and libertarian than most of the Republican electorate. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley invested a lot of resources in the state, and at her peak was trailing him by around 10 points there. But in the end she wasn’t able to pull off a win.
The road ahead should now get easier for Trump. He’s leading Haley by as much as 30 points in South Carolina and by over 50 points in national polls. All evidence indicates that the Republican base is ready to go all in for Trump one more time.