January 20 - 2024 campaign updates

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday boasted about his cognitive abilities after his GOP rival Nikki Haley questioned Trump’s mental fitness and his abilities to handle the “pressures of a presidency” after he confused her with Pelosi during a campaign speech.

Trump said at an earlier campaign rally in New Hampshire: “By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley … did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it? All of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security, we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, national guards, whatever they want. They turned it down.”

After those remarks, Haley told a crowd of voters in Keene, New Hampshire: “The concern I have is – I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can’t have someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do it.”

A senior Trump campaign adviser on Saturday addressed the former president’s remarks confusing Haley with Pelosi in a post on X Saturday.

"Nancy ….Nikki ….its a distinction without a difference," Chris LaCivita posted.

Beyond confusing Haley with Pelosi, Trump’s contention that the speaker of the House is responsible for US Capitol security is not accurate, as CNN previously fact-checked.

With most of the political world closely watching New Hampshire this weekend, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead spent Saturday 900 miles away in South Carolina, laying the groundwork for his presidential campaign’s last stand.

Yet, even as he soldiers on, DeSantis increasingly sounds like a candidate wrestling with his relevancy. In the days following his distant second-place finish in Iowa, DeSantis has lashed out at Fox News, bemoaned the money spent against him, blamed cold weather and “very low” enthusiasm for his performance, trivialized the sway of the Hawkeye State Republicans who endorsed him, conceded former President Donald Trump’s edge going forward, admitted his media strategy failed, and for the first time suggested what it would take for him to end his White House bid.

“As long as I’m in the hunt, that tells me that I’m seeing a pathway,” he said Friday night. “The minute I don’t, then I’m not just going to do this just for my health.”

Keep reading about DeSantis' strategy in South Carolina.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s event in Nashua, New Hampshire, was interrupted Saturday evening by young climate protesters, who stood up while she was in the middle of her speech. 

After the first protestor was taken out of the room, Haley told the crowd: "Don't boo someone like that."

Several protesters held large yellow signs that read, "Haley: climate criminal." One protester accused Haley of ruining the planet for the next generation.

“You never come to a dull rally,” Haley said. “Say it now, say your piece.”

At his final event in South Carolina on Saturday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told attendees at a barbecue restaurant in Lexington that he wouldn’t serve as former President Donald Trump’s vice president. 

“No, I am not going to do VP,” DeSantis said in response to a voter who asked whether he would consider being on the ticket with Trump. “It's just because, you know, I'm running for president because I want to make a difference.”  

DeSantis, as he often has, argued that he could make more of an impact as governor of Florida than as vice president, a position he said “has no power whatsoever and you just sit there.” 

“I'm not in this business to be somebody. I'm in this business do something and deliver results,” DeSantis said to applause. 

Later in the event, a different voter asked DeSantis the opposite question.

“When you become the nominee, for your VP pick, would you consider Donald Trump?” one woman asked.

The crowd burst into laughter, and DeSantis, smiling, said, “My sense is that that probably wouldn't be a position he would aspire to.”  

DeSantis said he has two “nonnegotiable” criteria when considering a running mate: Someone who is capable of serving as president and someone who aligns with his vision for the country.

He said he’s “partial to governors” because they have “executive responsibility.” 

Donald Trump on Saturday repeated his recent claim that Democrats can vote in New Hampshire’s Republican primary, saying at a rally in Manchester that New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu allows "independents and Democrats to vote in the Republican primary."

Facts First: This is false. Registered Democrats can’t participate in the New Hampshire GOP primary. Only Republicans and independents can vote in the Republican contest.

Trump has a well-documented history of lying about elections, most famously in 2020, when he routinely spouted disinformation about mail-in ballots and other voting rules.

In New Hampshire, there’s a large share of independent voters, who are called “undeclared.” The state prides itself in letting undeclared voters participate in either party’s presidential primary. They can pick which ballot to take when they show up to their polling place Tuesday. But registered Democrats can’t crossover to the GOP.

“Registered Democrats cannot vote in the Republican primary, and registered Republicans cannot vote in the Democratic primary,” New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan told CNN on Wednesday. 

This is at least the second time Trump has made this claim in a week. Read more of CNN's fact check here.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will no longer appear on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday after his campaign canceled the interview, the network announced.

The Florida governor also canceled a Sunday interview with NBC's "Meet The Press," host Kristen Welker posted on X. DeSantis pulled out "due to what a person familiar says is a last-minute schedule change," she said.

The campaign told CNN it was canceling DeSantis’ appearance for logistical reasons. DeSantis, who is in South Carolina, is now scheduled to appear in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sunday evening for a meet and greet.

A spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign tweeted details about the governor's canceled interviews, saying, "The media hits were canceled due to a scheduling issue and will be rescheduled."

"The governor will be traveling Sunday morning with the campaign and has public events scheduled Sunday evening through Tuesday in NH," Bryan Griffin tweeted Saturday night. 

A campaign source reiterated the cancellation was due to scheduling issues. 

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Saturday questioned Donald Trump's mental fitness after he appeared to confuse her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when talking about the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

“Last night, Trump is at a rally and he’s going on and on mentioning me several times as to why I didn’t take security during the Capitol riots. Why I didn’t handle January 6 better. I wasn’t even in DC on January 6. I wasn’t in office then,” Haley said.

“They’re saying he got confused. That he was talking about something else. That he was talking about Nancy Pelosi,” the former South Carolina governor added.

Haley told a crowd of voters in Keene, New Hampshire: “The concern I have is – I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can’t have someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do it.”

Her comments come after Trump said at a campaign rally in New Hampshire, “By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley … did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it? All of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security, we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, national guards, whatever they want. They turned it down.”

A senior Trump campaign adviser on Saturday addressed the former president’s remarks confusing Haley with Pelosi in a post on X Saturday.

"Nancy ….Nikki ….its a distinction without a difference," Chris LaCivita posted.

Beyond confusing Haley with Pelosi, Trump’s contention that the speaker of the House is responsible for US Capitol security is not accurate, as CNN previously fact-checked.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joined an event Saturday encouraging New Hampshire voters to write in Joe Biden in the Democratic primary. 

The grassroots effort has been hosting visibility events across the Granite State in recent days with Democratic surrogates including Wu and Rep. Ro Khanna. Others, such as Sen. Cory Booker, Govs. J.B. Pritzker and Maura Healey, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, have also served as surrogates for in-person and virtual events over the past few months.

A group of supporters, including former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, gathered on a sidewalk in frigid downtown Manchester, holding signs informing voters how to write in Biden's name on the Democratic ballot.

They all underscored that helping Biden win the first-in-the-nation primary, despite his name not being on the ballot, was essential to a general election victory for Democrats. 

"New Hampshire and Boston and all of New England are warming up for President Biden, and we're going to make sure that we get this done in November," Wu said.

Biden did not file to be on the ballot in New Hampshire's primary in order to be comply with the Democratic National Committee's newly sanctioned calendar, which puts the South Carolina primary first.

The DNC has already warned the state party that its unsanctioned contest will not yield delegates at the party's national convention this summer.

K.R. Epstein, a volunteer for the effort, said it's important for Biden to win in the Granite State because "we want to show the country and the world that people in New Hampshire are choosing democracy over dictatorship."

Former GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson endorsed Nikki Haley on Saturday ahead of the New Hampshire primary. 

Hutchinson, who suspended his presidential campaign on Tuesday, posted on X, “Anyone who believes Donald Trump will unite this country has been asleep over the last 8 years. Trump intentionally tries to divide America and will continue to do so. Go @NikkiHaley in New Hampshire.”

Hutchinson announced he was ending his presidential campaign following a dismal showing in Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, which were dominated by former President Donald Trump.

He finished sixth in the caucuses, according to the Iowa GOP, capturing only 191 votes.