Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Voters devise strategies to prevent Trump's victory in New Hampshire

Voters plotting ways to block the former US president from November’s ballot are lining up behind Nikki Haley as their best weapon against a second Trump term

Voters devise strategies to prevent Trump's victory in New Hampshire

New Hampshire voter Jan Dodge expressed her intention to vote for Nikki Haley in the state's Republican primary. However, she clarified that her decision is not primarily driven by support for the former South Carolina governor.

"I'm not actually a real supporter of Nikki Haley. But I don't want Donald Trump to win New Hampshire. So, I'm voting for Nikki Haley. And that's my story," the 71-year-old retiree says, before bursting into laughter.


She is seated along with her friend Lisa Kester, a 59-year-old attorney, inside Robie's Country Store in the cold New England state.

"It's a strategic vote," Kester said. "It's a vote against Donald Trump."

Voters plotting ways to block the former US president from November's ballot are lining up behind Haley as their best weapon against a second Trump term, and planning to cast their primary ballot for her on Tuesday.

Dodge and Kester came to the iconic general store on the banks of the Merrimack River Thursday (18) to listen to Haley speak.

With its red clapboard siding, Robie's has been a regular stop on the New Hampshire campaign trail for decades. In 1975, Jimmy Carter stopped by, and was greeted by the owner with "Jimmy who?" -- a moment that helped cement Robie's place in the pomp and circumstance of US presidential campaigns.

Trump, says Dodge, was "horrible for four years."

"And he would be even more horrible" should he take back the White House in his likely rematch with Democrat Joe Biden later this year, she adds.

Dodge is a registered independent and ballot clerk.

She found Trump's "lies" about the 2020 vote, which he lost to Biden and for which he is now facing a criminal indictment for election interference, offensive.

- Independents -

Though difficult to quantify, the rejection of Trump was a recurrent theme among independents -- allowed to vote in Republican or Democratic primaries in New Hampshire -- and even among some Republican voters who spoke to AFP.

New Hampshire's registered voters are famous for adhering to their state motto -- "Live Free or Die" -- and remaining independent, a granite bloc that Haley has been chasing in her struggle to reel in Trump.

She remains a long way behind the frontrunner after his landslide victory in Iowa, barely nipping at his heels in the polls.

"I think in New Hampshire, we're trying to figure out how to vote so that Donald Trump isn't the Republican candidate," says 43-year-old social worker Emily McCarthy, who made the trip to Rochester on Thursday evening to see Haley speak.

She described herself as "very socially liberal, and more fiscally conservative," adding that she is committed to human rights and "the right to do what you want with your body" -- an allusion to conservative attacks on abortion rights.

What will she do in the event of another Biden-Trump match-up? She hesitates, says she doesn't know yet, then blurts out: "I don't think that Joe Biden is the strongest candidate, democratically, but I would rather have him be the president than Donald Trump."

US Navy veteran Terry Morerod says he voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020.

"I'm not going to vote for Trump again," the 61-year-old says. "We need some young blood."

At Robie's, in among the cheeses, jars of maple syrup and the antique weapons decorating the walls, Haley repeats her campaign message to the listening crowd: "Do we want more of the same or do we want to move forward?"

The "same," she clarifies, does not just mean Biden, but also Trump.

Frank Tuoti, 70, was one of those who spoke to AFP who was backing Haley on her own merits.

He said he would vote for anyone against Biden -- including Trump. But Trump, he said, is often his "own worst enemy."

"She's a stabilising force," Tuoti said of Haley, pointing out that the United States is going through "a lot of upheaval."

"I think she's a calming, stabilising influence."

(AFP)

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less