New Hampshire: Indian-origin Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley, who is the sole challenger to former US President Donald Trump in the race for the presidential nomination for the November elections, received an unexpected question when a pro-Trump heckler interrupted her speech by proposing marriage. This happened ahead of the New Hampshire primary which saw a fierce contest between Haley and Trump.
According to the New York Post, the former UN Ambassador was talking to her supporters at the Artisan Hotel in Salem about the upcoming elections on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, when a man shouted from the crowd, "Will you marry me?", drawing laughter from Haley and the crowd.
Haley, who has been married to William Michael Haley since 1996 and has two children, quickly responded by asking the man whether he would vote for her. "I'm voting for Trump," the man replied after a brief pause, drawing jeers from the crowd.
“Oh, get out of here!” Haley said in a light-hearted response to the man. The video of the event was shared on social media platform X, garnering varied reactions from netizens, some of whom questioned Haley's conduct with rally attendees. "She doesn’t even try to convince him to vote for her, Vivek would have been like 'let’s talk'," said one user.
"She actually handled that pretty well," remarked another netizen. "Wow, that was quite a prank! Nikki Haley's reaction was priceless," another said.
Haley suffers setback in New Hampshire primary
Trump on Tuesday secured a major triumph in the New Hampshire primary against Haley ahead of the presidential elections in November this year, tightening his grip on the Republican presidential nomination and bolstering chances of a 2020 rematch with President Joe Biden. The results proved a setback for Indian-origin former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the sole challenger for Trump, despite a stronger-than-expected performance in the primary against all odds.
Haley was rooting to cut into Trump's margins and had invested significant time and financial resources into winning the state, as she secured a clean sweep on all six votes of the tiny Dixville Notch of New Hampshire on Tuesday midnight. She had intensified her criticism of the former president, questioning his mental acuity and pitching herself as a unifying candidate.
"I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight. He earned it, and I want to acknowledge that," the former South Carolina governor said in New Hampshire. However, Haley said that the GOP contest was "far from over" with many states left to vote, as she looked forward to her home state of South Carolina.
Trump is now the first Republican presidential candidate to win primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire since both states began leading the election calendar in 1976. On the other hand, the path to the presidential elections for Haley is narrowing quickly, as she was unable to capitalise on New Hampshire’s more moderate political tradition. Haley can only hope for the best in South Carolina's primary on February 24, where she hopes to show a strong standing, being the state's former governor.
Trump's allies are already pressuring Haley, a former South Carolina governor, to leave the race before her home state hosts the South's first GOP primary, which are likely to intensify now.
(with inputs from AP)
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