Can Trump broaden base as he faces ‘political & significant legal complications’ ahead of November?

Can Trump broaden base as he faces ‘political & significant legal complications’ ahead of November?

Donald Trump once again proved his vice grip on the Republican Party Tuesday the former US president won the New Hampshire primary by more than 10 points besting his last remaining Challenger former un Ambassador Nikki Haley Trump had been hoping to get Haley to drop out

But she’s vowing to fight on see you on the trail she ran up when it was seven and you know we have to do what’s good for our party and she was up and I said wow she’s doing uh like a speech like she won she didn’t win she lost and you

Know last last week we had a little bit of a problem and if you remember Ron was very upset because she ran up and she pretended she won Iowa and I looked around I said didn’t she come in third yeah she came in third I want to congratulate Donald

Trump on his victory tonight he earned it and I want to acknowledge that now you’ve all heard the chatter among the political class they’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over well I have news for all of them New Hampshire is first in the

Nation it is not the last in the nation for more on the state of the GOP race we welcome Jordan cash to the program he is an assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University thank you so much for joining us here on France 24 now Trump is the

First non-incumbent Republican to win both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary these are generally two very different groups of Voters and while it feels really early to be saying this race is over if you look at the polls it appears to be over yeah I think that’s generally right

I think Trump the fact that Trump is a former president makes this a very unusual race that he basically is running as an incumbent and so far Republican voters are voting like he is an incumbent um and while Nikki Haley is pledging to fight on go to her home

State of South Carolina it’s tough to see a path for victory for her at this point so why do you think Haley is staying in well it’s hard to say I think part of the reason is she feels that she needs to stay in at least through her home

State uh there’s always the possibility that her favorite daughter status in South Carolina May create a surprising outcome and if she can come close again especially in a state like South Carolina then perhaps she thinks she could extend the race a little further um another possibility might be that

Just to raise her profile more uh Republicans do at least prior to Trump had a tendency to reward the second place finisher in their presidential primaries with the nomination the next time so you could see this as Haley building up her profile even more for a

Run four years from now even if she loses this time and we’re just going to look forward a little bit and pretend that Trump has already locked this up a poll released this week found that 59% of registered us voters say they are quote not enthusiastic about a trump

Biden rematch but it looks like that’s what the country is about to get so what does that level of discontent signal to you as we look toward the general election in November well it’s hard to say at this point but I think you could see two possibilities

One would be that the level of discontent goes on both sides so you could see the Republicans being very enthused to get Biden out of office or the Democrats to get Trump out of office but that kind of negative fuel to get out the vote efforts what I think you’re

More likely to see is a lower turnout that you might otherwise expect in a presidential race like this that both Democrats and Republicans end up staying home then the real question will be which base is more fired up is less you might say depressed and actually gets

Out to the polls in November a really inspiring outlook for the country there now just to make it clear to our viewers the factors that help you win the Republican nomination are not necessarily what helps you appeal to a wider General electorate in the US Republican uh nominating contest you

Tend need to be more conservative so what are the challenges for Trump uh when he needs to appeal to more than his base in the general election yeah there are a couple different challenges that he’ll have to overcome one is the fact that yeah his base is more conservative um and that’s

Been to his strength in Iowa and New Hampshire and even in the primaries going forward uh well he’ll have to draw more voters who voted for Nikki Haley quite frankly independent voters moderate voters try to get some Democrats on his side and Trump so far in both this election and in his prior

Elections has not exactly shown a great ability to do that or do that consistently um so that’s a real big issue for him the other issue of course is with these uh criminal trials coming up for him there is a lot of concern that if Trump is convicted in any of

Those trials that many voters will see him as even voters who might otherwise support him might see him as unsuitable the presidency and then of course we have this issue of uh several states trying to take Trump off the ballot Colorado and Maine in particular and

That’s going to be argued in the Supreme Court fairly soon so not only are there these political complications for Trump there are significant legal complications that he’ll have to be dealing with as he runs against Joe Biden assuming he gets the nomination Jordan cash assistant professor of political science at Michigan State

University thanks so much for being on the program thank you very much

Former President Donald Trump had rock-solid support from the party faithful in his primary victory Tuesday, with even most backers of rival Nikki Haley acknowledging the GOP belongs to him. Yet as Trump’s hold on securing the party’s nomination tightened, AP VoteCast found that some voters express concerns that he is too extreme to compete in the November general election. Some also worry about his legal peril in pending criminal trials. Haley, a former South Carolina governor and a U.N. ambassador under Trump, bested him among college graduates and moderates, a possible sign that Trump has yet to expand his political base. The survey found signs that primary voters on the Democratic side rallied around President Joe Biden. He won in New Hampshire with strong support on the economy, but many have concerns about his age — he is 81 — and his handling of the situation in the Middle East. Only weeks into 2024, voters have already shown an awareness of Trump’s strengths and liabilities. But even as the coronavirus, the major challenge during the 2020 election, has faded from public view, the cultural and social forces of that Biden-Trump matchup have hardened in ways that are testing the country’s sense of itself. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Trump’s legal perils and his challenges ahead to expand his political base, FRANCE 24 is joined by Jordan Cash, Assistant Professor in the James Madison College at Michigan State University. His research focuses on American politics, constitutional law, and American political thought and development.

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