Baier on Biden’s decision to leave New Hampshire early to rally in South Carolina
The former vice president abruptly decides not to spend primary time in New Hampshire as planned and instead flies to South Carolina to headline a newly scheduled kick-off rally in the state; ‘Special Report’ anchor Bret Baier reacts.
After the New Hampshire primary finished with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., taking home the victory, "Special Report" anchor Bret Baier said the Biden campaign's fifth-place finish harms their viability for the upcoming South Carolina primary.
“I think finishing fifth with less than nine percent of the vote in a race where, going in a couple of months ago, it seemed like it was just going to be Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders is really tough,” Baier told “America’s Newsroom.”
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“It’s a tough message for his donor base, and he’s in South Carolina making that pitch. You wonder whether he’s going to be able to make it that far."
Baier’s comments came after Biden vowed a comeback Tuesday as he hosted a kickoff rally for what could be the make-or-break leg of his campaign in South Carolina, after a distant finish in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.
Biden abruptly announced Tuesday morning that he wouldn’t spend primary night in New Hampshire as planned and would instead host the event in South Carolina -- the state he’s long considered his campaign firewall.
“I think they saw the writing on the wall that it was going to be a bad showing,” Baier said.
But even after early New Hampshire results posted -- showing him badly trailing the leaderboard of Sanders, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. -- the former vice president still confidently asserted Tuesday night that he would be able to pull out a win.
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“It would have been a humiliating speech at the New Hampshire event," Baier added. "In South Carolina, at least you can look forward and have some hope that something is going to change. I don’t see it yet, but we'll see how he does over the next couple of weeks.”
Nevada and South Carolina follow New Hampshire -- which is an overwhelmingly white state -- in the presidential nominating calendar. Biden’s campaign has long considered Nevada and South Carolina, with their far more diverse electorates, much friendlier ground for the former vice president.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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