President Trump spent much of Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning attacking the 2020 Democratic presidential field as results came in from New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary vote.
In a series of tweets, Trump targeted candidates including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and railed against the media over its coverage of his GOP primary performance.
“The Fake News Media is looking hard for the Big Democrat Story, but there is nothing too fabulous,” Trump tweeted following a night in which Sanders claimed victory in the Granite State. “Wouldn’t a big story be that I got more New Hampshire Primary Votes than any incumbent president, in either party, in the history of that Great State? Not an insignificant fact!”
He also claimed that he would win New Hampshire and Iowa in November.
Trump overwhelmingly won New Hampshire’s GOP primary, earning about 83 percent of the vote as he faced minimal opposition. His vote share reportedly neared the modern historical high for an incumbent president, which was set by Ronald Reagan, with 86.4 percent, in 1984.
Meanwhile, Sanders delivered an important victory for his Democratic primary campaign on Tuesday night, amassing about 26 percent of the vote with 83 percent of precincts reporting. His vote count surpassed former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s by just about 3,600 votes.
The win came just a week after technical failures disrupted the results of the Iowa caucuses, leaving their results in doubt. Sanders won the raw popular vote in Iowa, though Buttigieg appears to have beat the progressive senator in convention delegates. Both Sanders and Buttigieg have called for a recanvass of the votes.
Trump repeatedly weighed in as results came in from New Hampshire, quipping at one point that Buttigieg was “doing pretty well” and giving “Crazy Bernie a run for his money.”
He also blasted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) over her fourth-place finish in the Granite State, suggesting that she was “sending signals that she wants out.” Warren has vowed to continue campaigning.
Trump also went after the billionaire businessmen in the race. He claimed that Bloomberg was having a “bad night,” even though the former New York City mayor was not on the ballot in New Hampshire.
He also compared Tom Steyer’s campaign to his own 2016 presidential bid.
“Impeachment King Steyer (how did that work out?) spent 200 Million Dollars and got less than 1% of the vote in Iowa, and only 3% of the Vote in New Hampshire. Could it be that something is just plain missing? Not easy to do what I did, is it?” he asked.
Trump did not target former Vice President Joe Biden, who came in fifth place in New Hampshire following an equally poor showing in Iowa the previous week. Biden left the state and traveled to South Carolina before the final results came in Tuesday night.