After Donald Trump’s blowout victory in Iowa, the US Republican primary might as well be over — at least according to his supporters in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, which votes next week.
“I expect a landslide,” says Loribeth Calderwood, one of the hundreds braving the snow and the cold to make their way to a Tuesday night rally in the small town of Atkinson.
“And if he doesn’t (win), I think it’s because they stole the election again,” the 45-year-old waitress told AFP, covered head-to-toe in a blanket to keep warm.
Edward X. Young, 64, was even more blunt in his assessment: “It’s over, they should just stop the primary. He’s the Republican candidate… come on.”
The winter weather wasn’t enough to keep supporters home as Trump made his way to the state — following a pit stop in New York for a civil defamation trial.
Just a day after the former president’s sweep in the Iowa caucuses, they were ready, they told AFP, for a second Trump term — already envisioning closed borders and lower inflation.
“What I remember about January 6 is that gasoline” was cheaper, said Paul Laskowski, 68, referencing the 2021 Capitol riots by Trump’s supporters.
“And you know what, I want that back,” the retiree added.