Fox contributor Charlie Hurt noted during a Fox Business Network interview on Tuesday that GOP voters around the country are, for the most part, angry at the current “political system,” not former President Donald Trump.
After the host noted that former UN Ambassador (under Trump) Nikki Haley had risen to third place in Iowa, where the country’s first-in-the-nation primary takes place next month, Hurt was asked if it was too late for her, given that she still trails Trump by about 35 points.
” I don’t know if it’s too late or just insurmountable from the beginning,” Hurt began. “At the beginning of all this, it was anybody’s guess whether or not Republicans were exhausted of the Trump thing, everything dealing with Trump. And as it turns out, and it is becoming clear, and has been for a few months now, they’re not.
“They look at the treatment that the political system has given, and the way the political system has treated Donald Trump; they’re appalled with the political system, not Trump,” Hurt continued. “What they want is a fighter, and obviously, the Koch brothers and other huge money donors have gotten behind DeSantis; they will get behind anybody to stand up to Donald Trump because they want a safer pick. They are not as committed to Trump as his supporters are.
“Nikki Haley might end up surprising everybody, but if everybody, whether Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina, if everybody keeps coming in doing a respectable second place, at the end of it, you will be in second place, you will not be in first place,” he added.
Charlie Hurt explains why it's lights out for ever GOP presidential contender not named Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/FTZkju8l30
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) December 27, 2023
“If Donald Trump racks up all the wins, even with 51 percent, at the end of the game, it is just a slow death instead of a quick death,” Hurt advised.
The host responded: “DeSantis has visited all 99 counties in Iowa, he spent a lot of time, a third of his staff moved to Iowa, he doesn’t seem to be making a lot of impact, and doesn’t get the traction I thought he would get.”
“It’s truly amazing, especially considering the record he established in Florida, but he has run a terrible campaign, and when you look under the hood, and when you look at the mechanics of the way they spent money and raised money, how they operated, it is the most disappointing campaign, mechanics-wise, that I have ever seen,” Hurt said.
