'Stunningly bad judgment' by Nikki Haley in her speech: Steve Hilton
Steve Hilton, Roma Daravi and Kelly Hyman discuss the results of the New Hampshire primary and the outlook for former President Trump and Haley on ‘Fox News @ Night.’
"The Next Revolution" host Steve Hilton called out Nikki Haley Tuesday night for her response to former President Trump's primary win in New Hampshire and her decision to use her post-race speech to attack the GOP frontrunner "more aggressively" than ever before.
TRUMP TOPS HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT DOESN'T DELIVER KNOCKOUT BLOW
STEVE HILTON: Donald Trump, this was a stunning victory for him. This was the state that is of all the Republican primary states, the worst in the whole country for Donald Trump. And he wins a majority. He wins over 50% and looks like a double-digit victory over Nikki Haley. That is a stunning result. Then you look at Nikki Haley and it's also very much the result…. this is exactly what she and the Never Trump Republican establishment dreamed of – the two-horse race in a state that favors Nikki Haley and is the worst for Donald Trump – and she's defeated by double digits. But the worst thing was that speech, Nikki Haley['s] speech. Stunningly bad judgment. Let's just think about the situation she's in. She wants to go to South Carolina, a state where she's miles behind Donald Trump, currently 20, 30, 40 points behind Donald Trump. She needs to persuade Republicans who currently support Trump to switch to her. So what did she do in that speech tonight? Attack Donald Trump more aggressively than she's ever done before? It is stunningly bad judgment. It makes me think, actually, she knows she's going to lose. She's not interested in even trying to win votes. She's got something else going on. Maybe her head has been turned by all the media adulation she's got in the last couple of days. It's impossible to understand what she's trying to do with that speech tonight.
Republican presidential hopeful and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks after results came in for the New Hampshire primaries during a watch party in Concord, New Hampshire, on January 23, 2024. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News projected Trump would win the Granite State primary just a few minutes after the final polls closed in New Hampshire.
The win, however, did not land a knockout blow in the Republican presidential race after Haley vowed to keep on fighting.
"You’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over," Haley stressed as she spoke to supporters after the contest was quickly called for Trump.
For Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor who served as U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration, New Hampshire was seen as her best and possibly last chance to slow down or derail the former president's march towards renomination.
The race now heads to Haley's home state, which on Feb. 24 holds the next major contest in the Republican nominating calendar.
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Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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