HAMPTON, N.H. (WHDH) - Former President Donald Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley both met with voters at polling places in New Hampshire Tuesday, shaking hands with supporters as voting got underway in this year’s New Hampshire Republican Primary.
In Londonderry, Trump spoke a length about a variety of issues and said he is feeling good about the race.
“If they want a great country, if they want a country where we say ‘Make America Great Again,’ …we are making America great,” he said.
In addition to Haley, Trump spoke about President Joe Biden and foreign policy under the Biden Administration.
Domestically, he said the issue of immigration is as important in New Hampshire as it is in states like Texas due to the state’s border with Canada and the fentanyl crisis.
“I appreciate the turnout,” he said.
Visiting a polling place in Hampton, Haley expressed confidence that she can pull off a win in the Granite State.
Speaking with 7NEWS, she also vowed to stay in the race no matter what and said she plans to campaign in her home state of South Carolina leading up to its primary.
Haley continued but would not say whether there was a percentage of the vote she felt she needs to hit to be confident continuing her campaign.
“It’s not like a certain number, I don’t go there and say I have to have this number, I have to have that number,” Haley said. “What I’ve always had in my mind is I want to be stronger than Iowa, and then South Carolina I want to be stronger. Let’s see what that looks like.”
7News asked Haley what her message was to supporters of Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the contest on Sunday.
“I know you want someone that is going to deliver results for you and get all the woke stuff out and get the noise out and get back to the basics of what government was supposed to be,” Haley said. “Government is intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people, it’s never meant to be all things to all people. This is a live free or die state, let’s make it a live free or die country.”
When asked if Trump was mentally fit for the nation’s highest office, Haley said he was – but suggested his age meant he might not be soon.
“I think he’s mentally fit, the problem is – do you want two 80-year-olds running for President?” Haley said. “Seriously. In the military, you have to retire at 65. You don’t have surgeons doing surgery at 80.”
She said it was imperative that the nation have a leader who could give it their all for years to come.
“It’s just a fact that people start to decline,” she said. “When you’ve got a country in disarray and a world on fire the way we do, you need someone at the top of their game that can put in eight years, that can go and get things back on track.”
In Hampton, Haley was sporting a new piece of jewelry on her wrist: a bracelet reading “President Nikki” that she said was made by a little girl she met on the campaign trail.
She later made her way to Manchester and Bedford, also speaking with voters in those communities.
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