New Hampshire Republicans gathered in Salem this weekend to elect new leaders, and to hear from an old one: former President Donald Trump.
Trump spoke for close to an hour at the state Republican Party鈥檚 annual meeting Saturday, delivering a rambling assessment of his tenure as commander in chief and that of his successor. Trump said voters should expect him to take a hard-edged approach in his campaign to reclaim the Oval Office in 2024.
鈥淚鈥檓 more angry now and more committed now than I ever was,鈥� Trump said.
Trump reiterated the false claims that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. At one point he also said, if he were president, he could immediately end the war in Ukraine.
鈥漃utin would have never ever gone in,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淎nd even now, I could solve that in 24 hours. It's so horrible what happened. Those cities are demolished now."
Trump also stressed issues of more parochial concern to local GOP activists 鈥� including defending New Hampshire鈥檚 status as leadoff presidential primary state.
"I will make sure New Hampshire remains the home of the first in the nation for many, many years to come,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淎nd I think, more than anything else, I have proven that I keep my promises."
But whether core Republican voters are still galvanized by Trump is an open question. A poll from the University of New Hampshire released last week showed him trailing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 12 points in a hypothetical matchup.
Trump did win repeated rounds of applause in Salem Saturday. After he said he loved New Hampshire, longtime Nashua Republican activist Di Lothrop shouted back, 鈥淲e love you!鈥�
But there were also signs that Trump鈥檚 hold on the party isn鈥檛 absolute.
鈥淚t was pretty standard fare,鈥� was Chris Wood鈥檚 assessment of Trump's speech. The longtime Republican activist from Concord was manning a 鈥淒raft DeSantis鈥� table outside the auditorium where Trump spoke.
鈥淚 think there is a thing about the age difference,鈥� Wood added about the 32 years separating the 76-year-old Trump and the 44-year-old DeSantis
Gov. Chris Sununu, who skipped the state GOP meeting to travel to Washington to attend the annual Gridiron Dinner, also took aim at Trump. On CNN Sunday, Sununu said that Trump鈥檚 visit to New Hampshire was 鈥渕undane.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 not really bringing that fire, that energy, I think, that a lot of folks saw in 鈥�16,鈥� Sununu said. 鈥淚 think that in many ways it was a little disappointing.鈥�
Sununu has said he hasn鈥檛 ruled out his own run for president in 2024.
State GOP delegates meanwhile, picked new party leaders Saturday, electing state Republican Committeeman Chris Ager of Amherst as state chairman, and Ryan Terrell of Nashua, a member of the state Board of Education, as vice chair.
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