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Evening Report

Wednesday, January 24

'Make America Normal Again': Haley camp projects optimism amid tough road ahead

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is sharpening her attacks on former President Trump in the hours after his victory in New Hampshire, seeking to drum up enough support to stay in the race until the next primary in a month.

While Haley won some delegates in Tuesday's Granite State contest that her campaign will lean into to justify staying the course, Trump's 11 percentage-point victory and cruising lead in polls for upcoming states pose a huge challenge.

Campaigning for the next states began before full results rolled in Tuesday night in New Hampshire, with Haley touting her showing on stage to supporters before Trump's margin of victory expanded throughout the night.

Haley called on both major political parties to move past their leading "80-year-old candidate" and played down the results as only from one state.

A visibly irked Trump unleashed on stage later in the night.

"You can't let people get away with bull----," Trump said in a speech, mocking Haley for staying in the race as allies on stage touted his lead and laughed at attacks against his last remaining GOP rival. "When I watched her in the fancy dress … I said, 'What's she doing?' We won," Trump said.

"Let's not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night."

Haley campaign spokesperson Nachama Soloveichik said Wednesday that Trump "reminded voters that they have a choice between two diametrically opposed visions: Make America Unhinged Again or Make America Normal Again."

Her campaign has projected optimism despite tall hurdles ahead, especially for South Carolina's Feb. 24 primary. In a memo Tuesday, Haley's campaign said: "South Carolina elected Nikki as Governor twice, against the odds."

Keep in mind: Voters in South Carolina don't register with a political party , and all voters can choose which primary to participate in. Those planning to vote in the GOP primary must be registered by Thursday, Jan. 25.

A CNN exit poll from Tuesday showed 70 percent of Haley's supporters in New Hampshire were independents. Registered independents and Republicans were able to participate in the Tuesday GOP primary.

Key data points:

Current delegate count: Trump 32, Haley 17
Delegates needed for nomination: 1,215

Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

CATCH UP QUICK

Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked two U.S.-flagged merchant ships being escorted by the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea on Wednesday. Crews and the vessels were not harmed, shipping company Maersk said.
Jon Stewart will return to Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" as a host on Mondays starting Feb. 12 through the 2024 election cycle.
Centrist GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) doesn't think she'll endorse former President Trump if he's the eventual Republican presidential nominee. Collins also encouraged Nikki Haley to stay in the race.

NEW THIS AFTERNOON

United Auto Workers union backs Biden

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has endorsed President Biden's reelection bid after months of withholding support.

Union President Shawn Fain said last May, "The federal government is pouring billions into the electric vehicle transition, with no strings attached and no commitment to workers." But on Wednesday, Fain said Biden had earned the union's support.

Biden became the first incumbent president to join a picket line when he met with striking UAW workers in Michigan last year.

The Hill's Julia Shapero noted that "Michigan, a state known for its outsized role in the U.S. auto industry, will likely be a key battleground" in 2024. Former President Trump flipped the state in 2016, while Biden won it in 2020.

💬 WEDNESDAY ONE-LINERS

New Hampshire takeaways

The first presidential primary is in the bag, and the next major contests are in South Carolina (Feb. 3 for Democrats and Feb. 24 for the GOP).

We asked strategists and political scientists for their takeaways from New Hampshire's results for upcoming nominating contests:

📣 Danielle Vinson, Furman University politics and international affairs professor: "Haley closed the gap some on Trump though not as much as she might have liked. Two things to watch going forward: 1) Haley has only recently begun direct criticism of Trump. If that raises doubts about his ability to win the general election, it might help her pick up some Trump supporters in SC. It will be an uphill battle. 2) One wildcard in this is how Trump's personal attacks on Haley will play in SC. Although people are used to his attacks, there's a history in SC gubernatorial primaries of voters turning against candidates who go too far."

📣 Gibbs Knotts, College of Charleston political science professor:"There were some positive signs from New Hampshire, but Nikki Haley continues to have an uphill battle to secure the nomination. South Carolina is Trump Country ... What's Haley's path? South Carolina is an open primary state, so her best hope is for moderate and independent voters to skip the February 3 Democratic primary and vote in the February 24 Republican primary. She will also need a big turnout in urban and suburban areas, particularly outside of Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston. Haley will need to run a near perfect race, and Trump will need to make some mistakes."

📣 Brian Seitchik, strategist and Trump campaign alum: "The GOP Primary is DUNZO. Trump-Biden Part Deux is on! America enjoyed the 2020 presidential campaign so much, we've decided to do it all over again AND-AND make it the longest General Election in modern American history and the first repeat presidential campaign since Eisenhower-Stevenson in 1956."

📣 Gates MacPherson, New Hampshire political strategist: "President Biden's overwhelming victory in an unconventional write-in primary is a major testament to the hundreds of Granite State volunteers who successfully organized a statewide, grassroots campaign and won. Contrary to the narrative in the media, the results of the New Hampshire primary prove there is enormous energy and enthusiasm behind President Biden which will carry into South Carolina and beyond."

congress

House panel to mark up Mayorkas impeachment articles

The House Homeland Security Committee will mark up impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas next Tuesday.

Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said, "Our thorough and fair investigation exposed Secretary Mayorkas' abuse of power and refusal to comply with the law."
The Department of Homeland Security said earlier this month, "Instead of working in a bipartisan way to fix our broken immigration laws, the House Majority is wasting time on baseless and pointless political attacks by trying to impeach Secretary Mayorkas."

Read the full report here.

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Hillary Clinton comments on 'Barbie' Oscar noms, snubs

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Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera received nominations for best supporting actor and actress, while Gerwig and Robbie were not nominated in the best director and best actress categories.