NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. 

Nothing Changed

In a weird way, the race for the Republican nomination looks oddly the same or even more like it did before New Hampshire — Trump is by far the likely nominee AND there are plenty of warning bells about his general election. 

• Trump won a slim majority of Republican primary voters in two relatively small states.
• Michael Luciano (@michaelsluciano) reports for Mediaite that longtime Fox anchor Brit Hume said, “There is weakness there,” about Trump’s win in New Hampshire, citing Trump’s low 50s number. That is not the number expected of a de facto incumbent. 
• Look at it another way: Historically unpopular Joe Biden, who wasn’t on the ballot in NH, did not hold a single event or spend a dollar and still got 57% in the Democratic primary through write-in votes.
• Colby Hall (@colbyhall) writes for Mediaite that Steve Doocy on Fox was even blunter about Trump’s problems going forward, saying in the general election that “according to our voter analysis, 35% of Republicans (in New Hampshire) said they would not vote for Donald Trump.”

Something we didn’t point out after Iowa: Trump won a lower percentage of the Republican caucuses in 2024 (51%) than he did the general election vote in that state in 2020 (53%).

Haley told us she has more than enough money to stay in through Super Tuesday and already has ads going up in South Carolina hitting Trump on electability. 

If anything, the new pressure for her to drop out from Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and others allow her to run as the anti-establishment candidate. Our friend David Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) and Michael Warren (@MichaelRWarren) report for The Dispatch that this hardens her resolve.

He reports Haley designed her New Hampshire “victory” speech to intentionally “bait Trump,” noting that “she twisted the knife, calling him, essentially, a coward: ‘Trump claims he’d do better than me in one of those (mental competency) tests. Maybe he would. Maybe he wouldn’t. But if he thinks that, then he should have no problem standing on a debate stage.’”

There’s irony in Trump complaining that Haley was acting as though she “won” when she didn’t. 

In the least shocking news ever, it worked, with Trump speaking second and attacking her in brutal terms rather than the disciplined “general election” Trump we saw in Iowa.

Drucker and Warren also highlight:

• “‘And just a little note to Nikki—we’re going to win,’ Trump told a festive crowd that filled up a hotel ballroom to hear from a candidate many Republicans are now referring to as the presumptive nominee. ‘But if she did, she would be under investigation by [the Democrats] and let me tell you five reasons why already. Not big reasons. A little bit of stuff she doesn’t want to talk about.’”

“Narcissism and rage” — Jessica Tarlov at Fox had the most brutal critique of Trump’s speech. Michael Luciano of Mediaite writes about it.

Looking forward: Haley is down about 34 points in South Carolina, according to a poll from our partners at Decision Desk HQ.

• Until the Feb. 24 primary, the state’s governor and two senators will flog her daily (even hourly) on Fox News and Newsmax.
• “Poor Tim Scott,” remarked the great Chris Stirewalt during our special coverage last night.
• As the Haley campaign said in its “State of the Race” memo yesterday, “A month in politics is a lifetime.”

All of the above notwithstanding:

• If she can’t win in New Hampshire, where can she? 
• Maybe it doesn’t matter: Having the second-most delegates gives her a clear path if Trump gets convicted or has a health issue before the RNC in July. 

The Press and Biden Are Not Totally Aligned

By tomorrow morning, the press will have largely moved on from Haley’s 11-point loss in New Hampshire and will start covering South Carolina like a new battle. 

• For a few reasons, in no order of importance:
  • Nothing excites the press like someone challenging Trump. 
  • It gives the press the ability to focus on every crazy thing Trump says while ignoring Biden.
  • They need something to cover.
  • Every day they talk about Trump versus Haley is a day they don’t have to talk about Trump beating Biden in most national polls, like this one highlighted by The Messenger showing Trump as the favorite with a seven-point lead. 
  • They can scorn “MAGA voters” who refuse to leave the Don for their preferred candidate.
  • They don’t have to cover Biden’s rapid withdrawal from the public stage.

Our friend Colby Hall wrote in Mediaite, “Trump’s Gaffes and Slurring This Weekend Should Be Leading Every Newscast — Why Aren’t They?” referring in particular to a moment where Trump confused challenger Haley with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

• Simple answer: If the media gives any attention to Trump’s gaffes, it will force conversation about Biden’s objectively far worse mental and physical condition. 
• Thought bubble: If Biden confusing wars in Iran and Ukraine or asking “Where’s Jackie?” in reference to a dead congresswoman doesn’t lead every newscast, why on Earth should a presidential candidate confusing two women he doesn’t like lead every newscast?  

Biden and Trump Agree 

Trump and Biden hate each other yet need each other to be the nominee. 

• For all the Biden and Democrat declarations that a Trump presidency is a “threat to democracy” (whatever that means), they are awfully excited to run against him.
  • “It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee,” said Biden in a statement last night, having skipped the New Hampshire primary and used the focus on Trump and Republicans to shake up his campaign. 

From our friend Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) who, after his appearance on Monday’s program, co-wrote a piece in Axios with Erin Doherty (@erinpdoherty) that says: “Democratic strategists close to the Biden campaign say that as good as Trump is at mobilizing his MAGA movement, he’s also one of the best motivators of Democrats that the strategists have ever seen.”

• Be careful what you wish for: just ask Hillary Clinton, who also thought Trump’s nomination was a gift. 

Thought bubble: Last week, we predicted Democrats would begin hitting Haley the way they did anti-Trump House and Senate candidates in the past few cycles to ensure a perceived easier general election race against a MAGA candidate. Stand by for the shenanigans in South Carolina. 

EV Disaster

This week proved why electric vehicles won’t work for driving or saving the world from climate change.

So climate change enthusiasts have a new way to save the globe while they fly to Davos on their private jets: climate change lockdowns. After all, Kristin Tate writes in The Messenger that Bill Gates says climate change could be worse than COVID — thus, they see justification for implementing drastic measures like: 

• banning short flights
• carbon taxes on travel
• four-day school week
• limitations on access to power by local governments and utilities
• remote learning during a “climate day” (a similar concept to snow days)

However, Kimberley A. Strassel (@KimStrassel) notes in the Wall Street Journal, “Seventy-seven percent of elites support ‘strict rationing of gas, meat, and electricity’ to fight climate change, vs. 28% of everyone else. More than two-thirds of elite Ivy graduates favor banning things like gasoline-powered cars and stoves and inessential air travel in the name of the environment. More than 70% of average voters say they’d be unwilling to pay more than $100 a year in taxes or costs for climate—compared with 70% of elites who said they’d pay from $250 up to ‘whatever it takes.’”
Newsflash: It’s happening already — not lockdowns, yet — but the banning of gas stoves (like a new proposal in Chicago) and mandatory changes to appliances are the beginning, not the end.

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.