Happy Monday! Tomorrow is the New Hampshire primary! I’m camped out at the DoubleTree hotel in Manchester, N.H., this morning where media, political strategists, candidates and political tourists are congregating. People-watching here is so fun 😏. Here’s what’s happening today:
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) caught the political world off guard this weekend when he suddenly dropped out of the presidential race. I saw him at a town hall event on Friday and he didn’t seem like a candidate ready to drop out, especially just two days before the primary.
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Nikki Haley is now former President Trump’s only major challenger left. Keep reading for an explainer on how this changes the GOP presidential race.
- Football star Jason Kelce had a grand old time at the Chiefs-Bills playoff game over the weekend. My social media feeds are all flooded with video evidence.
I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.
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GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley finally got that two-person GOP presidential race that she’s been wanting. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) dropped out Sunday despite coming in second in the Iowa caucuses. He was polling in the single digits in the next big contests, New Hampshire and South Carolina, so his path to the nomination seemed unlikely. But his exit still caught the political world by surprise.
DeSantis’s abrupt exit was unexpected. What happened?: From the early days of DeSantis’s presidential campaign, he was considered the top challenger to Trump. But that never quite materialized. The gist: He never polled well against Trump. Plus, he grappled with a number of campaign issues, including burning through cash and shake-ups in campaign staff. Read — ‘How DeSantis imploded in the GOP primary’
Everyone always assumes a dropout means a candidate was promised a position in the future administration: Well, Trump said on Sunday that it is “highly unlikely” that he would ask DeSantis to serve in his administration.
A theme I’ve noticed — Haley has been poking the bear: In an arena filled with Trump’s fired-up loyalists Saturday night, all the former president wanted to talk about was Haley. Read — ‘Haley gets under Trump’s skin in New Hampshire’
Trump has misspoken a few times: Haley has been leaning into Trump’s recent missteps, most notably when he appeared to confuse Haley and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during a campaign event.
See for yourself: 📹 Watch Trump’s apparent confusion of Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi
Haley brought it up on Sunday: “Trump goes on and on, multiple times, saying that I prevented the security on January 6 at the Capitol. I wasn’t even anywhere near the Capitol. I wasn’t in office,” Haley told a crowd Sunday in Derry, N.H. “Do we really want to have two presidential candidates in their 80s?” she also said. The Hill’s Julia Manchester and I wrote about Haley’s shift in strategy — she is now *much* more comfortable slamming Trump. Read — ‘Trump’s verbal confusions give opening to Haley’
Why Biden won’t be on the ballot in N.H.: National Democrats are trying to shake up the order of primary contests, intending to add more diversity to the early nominating calendar. President Biden decided not to file to be on the ballot. New Hampshire fought back, though, and kept their primary date first. So, now: The primary is happening as usual, but Biden isn’t on the ballot. Full explainer, from The Hill’s Julia Mueller
Don’t forget: Local Democrats have been working on a grassroots campaign for voters to write in Biden’s name on the ballot. Read — ‘Biden seeks unlikely write-in victory in New Hampshire’
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➤ WHAT THE POLLS ARE TELLING US:
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Trump has an 11.7 percent lead in New Hampshire, according to The Hill and Decision Desk HQ’s polling average. 📊 The polls included in this average
Here is one new poll: Trump has widened his lead in New Hampshire, according to a new Monmouth University/Washington Post poll.
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I don’t think I have fully warmed up since I got here: I passed by the venue for former President Trump’s rally roughly eight hours before he spoke. But in 12-degree weather, there was already a line to get in. And by 4 p.m., the line stretched several blocks. 📸 Photos of the scene outside the Trump rally
Omg, this image will follow DeSantis: NBC News reports that in the week before the Iowa caucuses, the head of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-Fla.) super PAC, Never Back Down, was seen working on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle in the Iowa headquarters. In the background, you can see staffers working. (NBC News) 🧩 Photo of the puzzling
A new write-in campaign: Lawn signs have been popping up, telling New Hampshire voters to write in “ceasefire” on their primary ballot. 📸 Photo
Ah, this is the primary at its finest: Haley poured a beer at the Peddler’s Daughter. 🍺 Photo
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) is having a great time: At a brewery in Newmarket, N.H. 📸 Photo
Nothing to see here. Just the governor of New Hampshire driving Nikki Haley to Chick-fil-A in his red Mustang: 🚗 Watch the footage of them driving together
Ooof: The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports that a “heckler asks [Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)] at Trump HQ event in Manchester, says ‘What’s the youngest school girl you’ve ever dated?’ [The heckler was then] escorted out and supporters chanted ‘USA, USA.’”
Look who it is: Judge Judy campaigned with Nikki Haley in Exeter last night. The crowd really enjoyed it. 📹 Watch her entrance
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The most disturbing thing I’ve seen here: On my way out of the Trump rally over the weekend, I noticed a person dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). People were posing for photos. 📸 Photo
Trump said he broke an attendance record at the Manchester arena: Well, The Boston Globe’s James Pindell pointed out that draping was used to make the arena seem smaller. 📸 Photo of the draping
Biden’s primary challenger had a huge turnout: PBS’s Lisa Desjardins estimated that roughly 200 people showed up for Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips’s Hampton, N.H., stop. 📸 Photo of the crowd
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➤ HEADLINES FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:
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- ‘Haley Gets a Trump Matchup, but Now Faces the Trump Machine’: The New York Times
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‘In Long-Shot Challenge to Biden, Dean Phillips Goes Where Few Democrats Dare’: The Wall Street Journal
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‘Inside Haley’s many mini stops across New Hampshire in local push to connect with voters’: The Washington Post
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‘The Story of the New Hampshire Primary in One Voter’: Politico
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‘10 questions about the New Hampshire primary, including, ‘Can anyone beat Trump?’’: NPR
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The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld reports that “E. Jean Carroll’s defamation trial against former President Trump was postponed on Monday after a juror and one of Trump’s lawyers reported feeling ill.”
“Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, said that she also was feeling ill on Monday and had recently been exposed to COVID-19 at a dinner with her parents.” (The Hill)
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🍪 Celebrate: Today is National Blonde Brownie Day!
🏈 The talk of social media: Jason Kelce, the Philadelphia Eagles star who allegedly told his teammates last week that he is retiring, attended the Chiefs-Bills playoff game Sunday to support his brother, Travis Kelce.
What a cool shot: Politico’s Katherine Tully-McManus posted a photo from Roll Call photographer Tom Williams of kids sledding in front of the U.S. Capitol. 📸 Sledding on Capitol Hill
🥾 Who runs the world? Girls! (in snow boots): White House deputy press secretary Emilie Simons posted a photo of the White House press briefing last snowy Friday. The front row of journalists was entirely women. Most of the second row were women, as well. And nearly all of them are wearing snow boots. 📸 Photo
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The House and Senate are in. President Biden is in Washington, D.C., and Vice President Harris is in Wisconsin. (all times Eastern)
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Today: The 51st anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade ruling.
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1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, brief reporters. 💻 Livestream
- 1:15 p.m.: Harris kicks off her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour with remarks in Wisconsin. 💻 Livestream
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2:15 p.m.: Biden meets with his Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access to mark the 51st anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. 📸 Livestream
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