Ted Cruz: Even if Haley wins NH primary with help of independents, Trump will trounce her in South Carolina
Cruz noted a Boston Globe editorial called for independents to vote for Haley as a protest vote against Trump
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said Monday the GOP primary is essentially over, whether former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley wins New Hampshire or not.
Cruz, who lasted the third-longest in the 2016 GOP presidential sweeps, said he recently endorsed Donald Trump because the Iowa caucuses results were "overwhelming" and he is the Republican candidate with the most united groundswell of support.
On "Hannity," host Sean Hannity noted Cruz's experience in 2016 – when he dropped out just prior to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, essentially giving Trump the nomination. Cruz suggested the former president has the same type of unwavering base he did back then.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think this race is over," he said. "He won 98 out of 99 [Iowa] counties. That is overwhelming. That is a powerful outcome."
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Cruz noted the Boston Globe ran an editorial this week urging anti-Trump Republicans and independents to vote in the GOP primary for Haley.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New Hampshire is a rare state where independents are permitted to vote in partisan primaries, which Trump claimed to a crowd Monday in Laconia, N.H., was the fault of Gov. Chris Sununu, who he called a "weak governor."
Sununu notably endorsed Haley, and took a verbal swipe at Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., for spurning his fellow South Carolinian.
"Look, Haley is close to Trump in New Hampshire. It's possible that Haley will be close," Cruz said.
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"It's even possible that she wins in New Hampshire, particularly because New Hampshire allows independents to vote in the primary."
He noted how about a third of the electorate in the Granite State are independents who can pick their primary.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden is not on the ballot in New Hampshire after the DNC mooted the day's results after officials refused to yield to the national party's shift of South Carolina's primary to first in the nation status.
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and author Marianne Williamson remain on the ballot, while Biden supporters have organized a write-in campaign.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cruz characterized the message from independents hoping to vote for Haley as "we don't like Nikki Haley, but we hate Donald Trump."
"Whether she [wins] or not, frankly, doesn't matter, because after that it goes to South Carolina. I think Nikki Haley will stick around 'til South Carolina, and she is going to lose her home state by double digits," he said. "And after that is Super Tuesday, where she's down by huge margins everywhere."
Instead, Cruz said, the party should unify behind Trump and take on Biden and his "trainwreck" of an administration.