McLaughlin & Associates President Jim McLaughlin and Trafalgar Group Chief Pollster Robert Cahaly told Newsmax on Tuesday that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was "totally off base" when she attacked GOP front-runner and former President Donald Trump, who won a resounding victory in the Iowa caucuses Monday night.
"First of all, it was a landslide victory for Donald Trump, and I think one of the things that we've been seeing that's been going on here is, throughout this campaign, whether it's the general election or the Republican primary, Donald Trump's popularity has been consistently underestimated by the mainstream media," McLaughlin said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show." "That victory last night, with his speech, and you look at, not just the speech, but the recent town hall, he's been very unified. And the truth of the matter is, Nikki Haley last night, when she was attacking Donald Trump, it was totally off base and you could almost hear kind of the gasps."
Cahaly said the contrast between Trump and Haley in the aftermath of the Iowa caucuses was notable.
"I think he is acting like a front-runner, acting like the presumptive nominee," he said of Trump. "He is talking in unifying language and, meanwhile, Nikki Haley's giving a speech like she actually came in second. I think she had the wrong speech at the teleprompter. When you underperform … by six points, it's not a winning night. Attacking him just seemed off base and it seemed kind of tacky. And with what had already happened that night, with [former Republican presidential candidate] Vivek [Ramaswamy suspending his campaign and] getting behind Trump, it just seems like it's time for the GOP to unify, and Trump was playing that tune and Haley was singing off key."
Political analyst Mark Halperin said that MSNBC's decision not to air Trump's remarks after his historic win in Iowa was "really shocking."
"He's not just the Republican front-runner – he won the Iowa caucuses," he said. "He's the front-runner to be elected president this year. And while I recognize the orientation that MSNBC has towards Donald Trump, it's really shocking. I don't think there's ever been a speech in my recollection by the winner of the Iowa caucuses, of either party, who was censored. It's not as constitutionally bad as keeping him off the ballot – MSNBC can make their coverage decisions – but they are choosing to censor and not share the words of the front-runner for the presidency, and I don't know how you can be a news organization and do that."
Trump took more than half the votes in Iowa Monday night, winning the Hawkeye State by a margin of 30 points.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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