WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free

1/ Nikki Haley vowed to continue her presidential campaign even if Trump wins New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation Republican primary, saying “This has always been a marathon. It’s never been a sprint.” Most polls, however, showed Haley trailing Trump going into today’s primary by double digits. Voting is scheduled to close statewide at 8 p.m. Eastern. New Hampshire is the second state on the Republican electoral calendar after the Iowa caucuses, which Trump won last week. The Nevada Republicans will hold caucuses Feb. 8, followed by South Carolina’s primary Feb. 24. (NBC News / CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press / NPR / Politico / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal)

• Why many Democrats want Trump to win big in New Hampshire. “Either Trump dominates Nikki Haley in New Hampshire and the general election campaign effectively begins Wednesday — or Trump gets caught in a drawn-out primary at least until South Carolina’s GOP contest on Feb. 24.” (Axios)

• Trump has a big problem ahead. “There’s a whole swath of the Republican electorate and a good chunk of independents who appear firmly committed to not voting for him in November if he becomes the nominee.” (Politico)

2/ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recently ended his 2024 presidential campaign and endorsed Trump, suggested that he would veto a proposed Republican bill to use taxpayer money to help pay Trump’s legal bills. The proposed bill would have allowed the state to create the “Freedom Fighters Fund,” which could then give Trump up to $5 million in taxpayer dollars for legal fees incurred from his ongoing court cases. The proposed new fund would come from the state’s public campaign-matching funds program and later be replenished from voluntary donations via driver’s license registrations. DeSantis, however, said he did not support the measure, tweeting: “But not the Florida Republican who wields the veto pen…” (Politico / Axios / Bloomberg)

3/ A federal appeals court rejected Trump’s request to lift a gag order that restricts his ability to criticize witnesses in his criminal case for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. “The court had a duty to act proactively to prevent the creation of an atmosphere of fear or intimidation aimed at preventing trial participants and staff from performing their functi...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.