Trump continues to hold commanding lead over GOP rival Nikki Haley as they look forward to South Carolina primary

By Fox News Staff Fox News

Published January 18, 2024 8:35pm ESTUpdated February 14, 2024 11:21am EST

Nikki Haley fires back at ‘The View’: ‘I’ve done quite a bit’

2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley says she is fighting for every American’s vote on ‘America Reports.’

Former President Donald Trump appeared in a Manhattan court for a pretrial hearing in the criminal “hush-money” case against him. At the same time in Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was in the spotlight for her relationship with the prosecutor she hired for the 2020 election interference case against Trump and co-defendants.

“Instead of being in South Carolina and other states campaigning, I’m stuck here,” Trump said outside the courtroom after the hearing, calling the case “election interference.” 

The split-screen moment of the two legal proceedings will likely become familiar in the 2024 election cycle. Trump faces numerous criminal and civil trials this year. The first criminal trial looks to be the New York hush-money case, part of Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg’s investigation. The judge on Thursday set the start date for jury selection in the trial on March 25.

Trump said he would be campaigning in the evening after attending the trial. 

The legal challenges have not been the opposite of an obstacle in his race to win the GOP nomination. But Trump’s last major GOP rival, Nikki Haley, said the legal drama would lead to more electoral losses for the party.

“Donald Trump is in court today. There will be a verdict on another case tomorrow. And he has a trial starting March 25. Meanwhile, he’s spending millions of campaign donations on legal fees. All of this chaos will only lead to more losses for Republicans up and down the ticket,” Haley said.

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GOP DELEGATE COUNT AFTER NEVADA: 

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Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

DEMOCRAT DELEGATE COUNT AFTER NEVADA:

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President Biden and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn. (AP Photo)

ONE NEW POLL: Nearly half of voters think President Biden could be replaced as the Democratic nominee in 2024 amid growing concerns over his health. A Monmouth University poll released Thursday revealed Biden is “seen in a more negative light than Trump” when it comes to physical health and age, as only 32% of respondents think the president is physically fit to serve another four years in office.

TWO HYPOTHETICAL RUNNING MATES: As he flirts with third-party presidential run, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said he would consider picking Utah Sen. Mitt Romney or former Ohio Republican senator Rob Portman as a potential running mate. Romney was the GOP nominee in the 2012 election against former President Obama.

ONE NEW PROTEST: Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., giving a victory speech Tuesday night in a special election for a vacant House seat once held by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December. Chants of “You support genocide,” “Stop supporting genocide” and “Ceasefire now”were heard from protesters in the crowd holding Palestinian flags.

One demonstrator appeared to be knocked off the stage by security amid the chants, which come more than four months after Hamas terrorists launched their Oct. 7 attack against Israel, prompting military retaliation from Israeli forces. The crowd then drowned out the pro-Palestinian protesters by shouting “Suozzi! Suozzi! Suozzi!”

ONE NEW SLAM: Former President Trump blasted Pilip after she lost the special election to Suozzi. In a late night Truth Social post, Trump called Pilip a “foolish woman” and claimed she lost because she did not endorse him.

“Republicans just don’t learn, but maybe she was still a Democrat? I have an almost 99% Endorsement Success Rate in Primaries, and a very good number in the General Elections, as well, but just watched this very foolish woman, Mazi Melesa Pilip, running in a race where she didn’t endorse me and tried to ‘straddle the fence,’ when she would have easily WON if she understood anything about MODERN DAY politics in America,” Trump wrote.