MANCHESTER, United States: Donald Trump was set to hold a final rally Monday in New Hampshire on the eve of the primary where polls show him likely to trounce the sole remaining challenger, Nikki Haley, for the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump spent the first part of the day in New York where he’d been planning to attend his sexual assault defamation trial — part of a strategy of embracing the scandal swirling around him. However, with one juror reporting sickness, the trial was postponed to Wednesday.
The New Hampshire primary is seen as the last, best chance for Haley to stop Trump.
Despite being twice impeached as president and now facing four criminal cases, he has succeeded in imposing his far-right brand on the entire Republican Party.
A new Washington Post/Monmouth poll Monday showed Trump, 77, backed by 52 percent in New Hampshire to Haley’s 34 percent.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor who at 52 is 25 years Trump’s junior, is the sole challenger after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out over the weekend.
But unless she pulls off a political miracle, Trump is seen as likely to repeat his domination in the first contest in Iowa, then cruise through the remaining primaries to become the nominee to face President Joe Biden in November.
He was due to hold one of his signature “Make America Great Again” rallies in Laconia.
The plan to begin the day by attending the defamation trial — and possibly taking the witness stand — highlighted Trump’s strategy of attempting to transform his legal morass into a political grandstand.
That message resonates with Republican right-wingers, who are key to winning the party nomination.
The postponed New York civil trial features E. Jean Carroll, a successful writer, seeking more than $10 million in damages for defamation by Trump, whom another New York civil jury found liable for sexual assault against her.
Trump separately faces serious criminal prosecutions, including over his alleged attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election which he lost to Biden.
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