First on Fox: Trump stops in New Hampshire before South Carolina on Saturday

[ad_1]

EXCLUSIVELY former President Donald Trump will stop Saturday morning in New Hampshire, the state that in a century will hold the first presidential primary in the race for the White House.

Fox News has learned that the former president, who in November launched his third campaign for the White House, will deliver a keynote address to hundreds of party leaders, elected officials and activists attending New Hampshire’s annual convention. GOPs, which will be held this year. on Saturday, Jan. 28, in Salem.

Trump’s stop comes hours before he heads to South Carolina, another key early voting state that hosts the third contest on the GOP’s presidential nominating calendar.

The former president will be joined by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina and senior Sen. Lindsey Graham as he unveils his South Carolina leadership team at an event at the state Capitol building in Columbia. The gathering will be Trump’s first campaign event of 2024 since announcing his candidacy in mid-November at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

TRUMP, DESANTIS, PENCE, AND OTHERS – THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION BATTLE FOR EVANGELICAL VOTERS

Former President Donald Trump formally entered the 2024 presidential race at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 15, 2022. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Steve Stepanek, who is finishing a four-year term as chairman of the New Hampshire GOP, said in a statement obtained by Fox News that “we are excited to welcome President Trump back to the Granite State to be the keynote speaker at our 2023 Annual Meeting. “

“President Trump has long been a strong defender of New Hampshire’s First in the Nation Primary Status and we are excited to have him join us to deliver feedback to our members,” said Stepanek, who co-chaired Trumps 2016 presidential campaign in New Hampshire before becoming state party chair two years later.

2024 WATCH: TRUMP’S IN – HERE’S WHO ELSE COULD JOIN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY FIELD

The stops in New Hampshire and South Carolina come amid criticism of the former president’s 2024 campaign launch by politicians, and Democrats and some Republicans have criticized him for controversial actions and comments he has made in the past two months. In the wake of a lackluster GOP performance in the midterm elections, Trump has also been blamed for the rise of polarizing Republican nominees who lost in November.

Former President Donald Trump speaks in Mar-a-lago on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump remains the most popular and influential politician in the GOP, a fierce fundraiser and the clear front-runner in many early 2024 GOP presidential nomination public opinion polls. But both New Hampshire and South Carolina have home state politicians mulling potential White House bids.

WHY THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE IS OFF A SLOW START

In New Hampshire, popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who was easily re-elected in November, told Fox News this month that “a lot of people are reaching out to me. A lot of people want me to run. I have.”

And in South Carolina, former two-term Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, has long considered a White House run. He said last week in an interview on Fox News’ “Special Report,” “I think we need a young generation to come in, step up and really start fixing things. Can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader.” Haley has made multiple visits to Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states that kicked off the GOP’s nominating calendar.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Sen. Tim Scott, of South Carolina, a rising star in the party and the only Black Republican in the Senate who won re-election in November in a landslide, is viewed by pundits as another potential Republican presidential contender.

Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.

[ad_2]