Donald Trump is a more electable candidate than Nikki Haley, because the former president has shown resiliency after years of media criticism and controversy that the former South Carolina governor has not faced, Sen. J.D. Vance told "Fox News Sunday."
"I know a lot of people who are choosing Nikki Haley think she's the low baggage candidate," the Ohio Republican said. "In reality, she's the candidate that Democrats haven't teed off on. But they will tee off on her if she's the nominee."
Vance reiterated that, in any case, "Nikki does have baggage. She just hasn't faced the onslaught of years of media attacks, of super PAC attacks that Donald Trump has faced. And, frankly, the fact that Trump is still standing and still leading in the polls against Joe Biden suggests he has real political resilience."
The Ohio senator was speaking days before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, where Haley is much closer in the surveys to Trump than she is in more conservative states.
Vance, who is a vocal supporter of Trump, emphasized that Haley "won't be [the nominee]; but if she is, she will face exactly what Donald Trump has faced for the past six years."
The Ohio senator added: "I don't think she'll survive, and I certainly don't think she'll win the presidency through it. That's why we need to elect the guy who's shown some resilience. That's why we need to nominate Donald Trump."
He added that in the case of New Hampshire, where he said some of those voting in the primary are liberals who moved from Massachusetts, general election voters are "never going to vote for a Republican nominee, even if it's Nikki Haley."
"They're just trying to play spoiler to Donald Trump," Vance said. "But I think Republicans really have to ask ourselves: Do we want liberal suburbanites from Massachusetts to choose our nominee, or do we want to choose our nominee as Republicans and independent-minded conservatives?
"I think if we choose our nominee, Donald Trump is going to win and he's going to win handily."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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