Rather than sprint across New Hampshire, former President Donald Trump has split his time between the campaign trail and the courtroom in the week since he romped in the Iowa Republican caucuses.
He made the decision to attend multiple sessions of his civil defamation trial in New York, capitalizing on media exposure from that case even though it hinges on the fact that he has already been found liable for sexually abusing the former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in a department store in the 1990s.
Trump’s lawyers say he plans to testify in the case, although they asked that it be delayed until after the New Hampshire primary. The illness of a juror means there will be no proceedings on January 23, the state’s primary day. The court appearances did not keep Trump away from New Hampshire; he still conducted rallies on most days, although he spent last Thursday out of court and off the campaign trail.
Trump’s chief rival, on the other hand, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who also served as US ambassador to the United Nations in Trump’s Cabinet, has conducted multiple New Hampshire campaign events each day, barnstorming the state with her chief backer, Gov. Chris Sununu. In the week since she placed third in the Iowa caucuses, Haley increased the intensity of her blitz over the weekend, according to CNN’s analysis.
Number of rallies may not be equal to number of voters reached. Haley held an event in a high school in Exeter Sunday night, for instance, while Trump addressed supporters at an opera house in Rochester.