President Donald Trump has easily won New Hampshire’s Republican primary after facing a very minimal opposition.
Four years ago, the state gave Trump his first primary victory and helped him reach the White House. But Trump barely lost New Hampshire to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November general election.
Trump has always benefited from the massive support from the Republican Party since then, and his campaign has worked to gain control of the nominating process to turn August’s GOP convention into a “four-day infomercial” for his campaign.
As the votes were being counted, President Trump posted on Twitter that Sen. Elizabeth Warren was having a “really bad night.”
Trump already has a very strong position within the party, but the nixed primaries deprive ‘never Trumpers’ the chance to air their case.
He came to the state for a Manchester rally that drew thousands of people Monday night, but that was a strategic move designed to sow discord in Democratic ranks. He even called for new registrants to back Sen. Bernie Sanders or whichever candidate was weakest, while also padding his mailing list and feeding his base of support.
Trump, facing a minimal number of long-shot contenders, was declared the winner by the Associated Press as polls closed at 8 p.m across the state.
Shortly before about 9 p.m., Trump was leading with 84 percent of the vote, with 22 percent of the precincts reporting.
The billionaire tycoon ran away with the contest, winning votes across all demographics, including solid Republicans and independents, conservatives and moderates, and regular voters as well as first-timers.
He was leading with 86 percent of the vote with almost a third of the vote in. Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, who spent his months campaigning across the state, was below 10 percent of the vote.
It was the second easy victory for the president in as many weeks. In Iowa he won with 97 percent of the vote, trouncing Weld and former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh, who ended his bid last week.