As pressure mounts for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to suspend her campaign, a counterargument is being made that her dragging out the primary fight actually benefits former President Trump.
On the popular conservative podcast "Ruthless," co-host and former staffer to Sen. Mitch McConnell, John Ashbrook began by acknowledging why the Trump campaign is calling for Haley to drop out of the primary race and to consolidate behind the clear GOP frontrunner in order to focus on the general election against President Biden. He also saw what Team Haley is carrying on towards the South Carolina primary next month after exceeding expectations in New Hampshire.
"Let me give you a perspective on why it might actually be beneficial for Trump to have this continue," Ashbrook said on Thursday's podcast. "Because a conflict between Donald Trump and another Republican has to be covered by the press. And it actually makes Trump look pretty good that he dominates his Republican opponents in Iowa and New Hampshire and whatever other state that he's running against… It runs the clock."
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"And the second that he is the nominee and there is no other conflict among Republicans, the conversation in the mainstream media turns entirely from something about presidential politics and who wants a border wall and who wants lower taxes- directly from that to criminal trial. And the presidential coverage from the mainstream media will be wall-to-wall criminal trial, start to finish," he continued.
Ashbrook went on to make clear that while Trump "probably" will defeat Haley in her home state as polls have previously suggested, "75 network embeds" are headed to South Carolina for the ongoing GOP battle, something he said the media "must cover."
Fellow "Ruthless" co-host Josh Holmes shared another argument in favor of Haley staying in the race that also helps Trump in the long run.
"If you're concerned that Nikki Haley is the one that's preventing the Republican Party from consolidating, like, don't worry about that. Don't worry about that," Holmes said. "What you ought to worry a lot about is if somebody like Nikki Haley isn't talking to a segment of the electorate that the Trump campaign isn't talking to at all, because that is a majority maker. That is the difference."
"But the consolidation is inevitable. It's going to happen. Because Joe Biden is that bad. Democrats are that bad. The progressive movement is that bad. It is so divorced from Middle America and the values of America and what we stand for, there's no chance that you're not going to have a consolidated conservative movement," Holmes added. "What I worry a lot about is the people who aren't talked to who have economic concerns with the Biden administration that ultimately are fearful that the Republican Party doesn't represent anything they care about. Well, Nikki's talking to them right now."
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Trump has dominated the GOP race so far with historic wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, earning more than 50% support in both states. Haley came in third place at last week's Iowa caucuses and nabbed 43% of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, going well beyond the roughly 37% polling average she had going into the Granite State, according to RealClearPolitics.
Very few polls have been done in South Carolina but they so far benefit Trump, who averages north of 50% of Republican support in the state while the former governor has been averaging 22%. It's worth noting that the polls were taken with other GOP rivals still in the race, all who have since suspended their campaigns.
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Haley's main argument to voters has been that polling has shown she is a stronger general election candidate than Trump, pointing to polls showing her having a wider margin of victory over Biden in hypothetical match-ups. She has also made age and mental acuity a campaign issue against both Biden and Trump, seizing on the former president's recent gaffe when he mixed up Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while discussing Jan. 6 at a rally.
Meanwhile, supporters of Trump say continuing a contested GOP primary will drain money and resources that otherwise could be redirected against Biden as he will likely become the Republican nominee. Trump has also slammed his former U.N. ambassador for her foreign policy stances.
