The Daily Populous Tuesday September 3rd, 2024 evening edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by plz-let-me-in

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The Trump campaign “no longer thinks New Hampshire is winnable” and is “pulling back” from the crucial swing state, according to a bombshell leaked email from a top campaign volunteer.

Tom Mountain, a former Republican party vice chair in Massachusetts, sent an email to volunteers claiming that “the campaign has determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state,” The Boston Globe reported.

In the email, obtained by the Globe, Mountain advised supporters to turn their attention to Pennsylvania instead, as Trump was “sure to lose by an even higher margin” in New Hampshire than he did in 2016 and 2020.

Mountain claimed the campaign has been forced to “shift strategy” after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Kamala Harris replaced him at the top of the ticket.

“So for those who were active in the NH ground campaign in 2016 and 2020, and expected to do the same after Labor Day, the simple question is… what are we to do? GO TO PENNSYLVANIA,” he reportedly wrote.

Trump is ‘sure to lose by an even higher margin’ in New Hampshire than he did in 2016 and 2020, the volunteer said ( AFP via Getty Images )

“The nearest battleground state. This is a must-win state. If we lose Pennsylvania we lose the election.”

Mountain claimed that the Trump campaign would be pulling resources out of the state and would not be sending Trump or any high-profile campaign surrogates, such as his sons, to the state.

After sending the email on Sunday evening, Mountain was asked to step away from the Trump campaign and “will no longer have any involvement,” senior campaign advisor Brian Hughes told the Globe.

The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for further comment.

After Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump in June, Republicans were optimistic about their chances in New Hampshire and that they might have a chance of flipping the state.

A poll by St Anselm at the time found Trump had a two-point lead over Biden in the state following the debate. Referring to the debate, Jon McHenry, a national GOP pollster, said: “If it wasn’t already, it sure came into play last Thursday.”

Donald Trump speaking during his primary night rally in Nashua back in January ( Getty Images )

But now, with Harris at the top of the ticket, she has now taken a seven-point lead over Trump, according to recent polling by St Anselm and the University of New Hampshire.

Despite the lead, Harris will visit the state on Wednesday when she hits Portsmouth on the campaign trail.

New Hampshire, which has a Republican Governor Chris Sununu, has not voted for a Republican in the presidential election in more than 20 years.

Trump has not visited the state – which carries four electoral college votes – since he won the GOP primary in January and his campaign has not released any details of a visit.

Jane Fogarty, Republican National Committeewoman for Massachusetts, told the Globe she was not aware of any shift in the Trump campaign’s strategy in the Granite State and insisted it remains “an important” state in the election.

waiter_checkplease on September 3rd, 2024 at 12:23 UTC »

Won’t be convinced until after November 8th

plz-let-me-in on September 3rd, 2024 at 11:33 UTC »

When Biden was still the presumptive nominee, the Trump campaign was investing money in blue-leaning states that Biden won by a substantial margin in 2020, including New Hampshire, Virginia, and even New Jersey. The fact that Trump is pulling away from these states now that Harris is the nominee indicates that he is scared. He's no longer focused on expanding the map (which seemed very possible while Biden was still the presumptive nominee) and seems to be going all in on Pennsylvania and Georgia, since that seems to be his only plausible route to victory now.

nopesaurus_rex on September 3rd, 2024 at 11:30 UTC »

He’s also stopped spending money in NC, which he needs to win. Even if he gets GA and PA, if he loses NC he’s screwed. He’s not on the offensive anywhere.

ETA: didn’t expect this to get a bunch of responses — the ad spending report is in the week’s sticky thread a few hours back if you want to see the other states. Tldr his spending in NC has dropped from $10m to under $3m for the next nine weeks