By Michael Sol Warren
BU News Service
MANCHESTER, N.H.— Donald Trump’s victory in New Hampshire was never in doubt.
With 60 percent of the ballots counted, the real estate mogul had 34 percent of the vote. John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, was in second with sixteen percent and Ted Cruz was third with eleven percent. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were also in the mix with eleven percent and ten percent respectively.
Trump won so handily that the Associated Press and CNN called the Republican race at 8 p.m. with just four percent of Republican ballots counted.
Chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” echoed through the crowd at Trump’s results viewing party at The Executive Court Banquet Facility as CNN made its announcement.
With “Revolution” by The Beatles playing, Trump and his family took to the stage for his victory speech at 9:55 p.m. The candidate began by thanking his parents and his late brother Fred, then thanked his wife, Melania, and children for their encouragement and support in the campaign so far.
“[Melania] said you know if you run, you’re going to win,” Trump said. He followed this with a quick congratulations to his rival candidates before adding “now that we got that over with” and moving on to thanking the people in New Hampshire who voted for him.
Trump then congratulated Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders on his victory over Hillary Clinton before ripping into Sanders’ platform.
“We’re going to fix our country the old fashioned way,” Trump said.
In his victory speech, Trump hit on his usual campaign points. He spoke against the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups in politics. He called for the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, not only to keep out immigrants but to stop the spread of heroin and other drugs throughout the country. Trump promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and Common Core education requirements.
Trump said that he would strengthen American’s Second Amendment rights if he were elected president. He used the Paris Attacks as a reason for why an expansion of gun rights was needed.
“If there were bullets going in the other direction, believe me, it would’ve been a different story,” Trump said, referring to the Paris Attacks that left more than 130 people dead.
“We are going to make America so great again, maybe greater than ever before,” Trump said around 10:10 p.m., ending his speech about fifteen minutes after he began. The candidate and his family left the stage the same way they entered, with The Beatles’ “Revolution”.
One protester was in the crowd during Trump’s speech, shouting “you’re classless” towards the candidate repeatedly. The protester was drowned out by shouts of “Trump!” from the candidates supporters and was eventually removed from the viewing party. Trump did not acknowledge the incident.
Chris Long of Manchester, N.H. said that he decided to vote for Trump on Monday night after hearing him speak. Long said that his family had been pushing him towards Trump, but he wasn’t convinced until he heard the candidate in person. Long pointed to Trump’s support of law enforcement as a main reason that he voted for the candidate.
Bennett Wilson said that he drove up from his home in Massachusetts to experience the event. Wilson said that this is the first election he’s been able to participate in and that he wanted to see the political process in person. He said that he is a firm Trump supporter and that he will be voting for the candidate in the Massachusetts primary.
The next stop for the Republican race is the South Carolina primary on Feb. 20. Currently, FiveThirtyEight gives Trump a 55 percent chance of winning in the Palmetto State.
