Update: Shortly after 10:30pm, hours after the polls closed on Tuesday and he was declared the winner of the New Hampshire primary via a write-in campaign, President Joe Biden released a statement.
"It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher. Our Democracy. Our personal freedoms — from the right to choose to the right to vote. Our economy — which has seen the strongest recovery in the world since COVID. All are at stake," Biden's statement began, also touching upon Trump's primary win in the state as he went up against former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
"I want to thank all those who wrote my name in this evening in New Hampshire. It was a historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process. And I want to say to all those Independents and Republicans who share our commitment to core values of our nation — our Democracy, our personal freedoms, an economy that gives everyone a fair shot — to join us as Americans," the statement continued, touching upon the president's own win.
"Let’s remember. We are the United States of America. And there is nothing — nothing — we can’t do if we do it together."
Original: President Joe Biden wasn't even on the ballot for the New Hampshire Democratic primary, due to disagreements with the DNC about which state would go first. His supporters had to put his name down in a write-in campaign. Enough of them did so, and Biden came out as the winner.
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Decision Desk HQ called the race for Biden at 8:42pm EST, while they called the Republican primary much sooner for former and potentially future President Donald Trump at 8:00pm.
Decision Desk HQ projects Joe Biden wins the New Hampshire Democratic primary as a write-in candidate.#DecisionMade: 8:42pm ET
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) January 24, 2024
Follow more results here: https://t.co/QoS6gQwq7i pic.twitter.com/nKgqYUjLy7
For a time, it did not look as if the president would be acknowledging the win tonight. Fox News' Peter Doocy pointed out during election coverage on Fox News that one would never know there was a primary election today, especially as it didn't come up earlier at the White House.
Instead, Biden appeared in Manassas, Virginia on Tuesday night to give a pro-abortion speech to "Restore Roe" though he made headlines for other reasons as he incorrectly referred to former Gov. Terry McAuliffe as "the real governor" of Virginia. Biden and the Democrats have been looking to make abortion a major campaign issue, even as members of the Biden administration look to confuse and mislead on their support for abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy without legal limit.
Nevertheless, this presents a key win for the president, especially as it was feared he could lose the state. In 2020, Biden came in fifth place in New Hampshire, finishing with 8.4 percent of the vote and earning no delegates.
Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota finished in second place, with 24.0 percent of the vote in with 32 percent reporting. Marianne Williamson came in a distant third with just 4.8 percent of the vote.
First on the official DNC calendar is South Carolina, where the Democratic primary takes place on February 3. Biden and Democrats had complained about a lack of diversity in New Hampshire. South Carolina was key to Biden winning the nomination in 2020 and is home to Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, a key Biden ally.
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