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Seth McLaughlin

smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com

Seth McLaughlin, a reporter on the Politics Desk, can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SethMcLaughlin1

Articles by Seth McLaughlin

Daniel Schroder, right, holds one of his three children on his shoulders as they wait to meet Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, left, after a campaign event in Mauldin, South Carolina, on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. Schroder is backing Haley, a former South Carolina governor, over former President Donald Trump in South Carolina's Feb. 24 Republican presidential primary. Haley must convince more voters who have supported both her and Trump in the past to stay with her this time. Otherwise, South Carolina could effectively end the 2024 nomination fight with another Trump victory. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow)

Team Trump unleashes surrogates in Haley’s backyard

Former President Donald Trump is pressing his surrogate advantage against Nikki Haley in South Carolina, seeking to cast her as a fish out of water in her home state.

February 1, 2024

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump hold signs outside before a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley at The North Charleston Coliseum, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

Haley escalates attacks on Trump as time runs out to change the trajectory of the GOP race

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is likening President Biden and former President Donald Trump to the crotchety characters from the movie "Grumpy Old Men," warning a sequel/rematch starring the two in November would amount to political box-office poison.

January 31, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event in Derry, N.H., Jan. 21, 2024. Two major Republican candidates are left competing for their party's 2024 presidential nomination after the departure of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from the race. Former President Donald Trump and Haley are going head to head in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Among Democrats, President Joe Biden is on track to win the Democratic nomination easily. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) **FILE**

Haley: Voters should reject a ‘Grumpy Old Men’ sequel of Trump-Biden rematch

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is likening President Biden and former President Donald Trump to the crotchety characters from the movie "Grumpy Old Men," warning a sequel/rematch starring the two in November would amount to political box-office poison.

January 31, 2024

In this Nov. 13, 2008 file photo, Citadel Investment Group Founder, CEO and Co-Chief Investment Officer Kenneth Griffin testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, before the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on "Hedge Funds and the Financial Market." (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

GOP megadonor Griffin praises Haley, laments odds of beating Trump are slim

Ken Griffin, the CEO of financial firm Citadel and a GOP megadonor, cast doubt Tuesday on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's hopes of upsetting former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

January 30, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Conway, S.C., Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Kelley) **FILE**

Nikki Haley says Trump’s mental decline is ‘a fact’

Nikki Haley says President Biden and former President Donald Trump are two peas in a pod when it comes to questions about their age and mental decline.

January 30, 2024

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Republican Party of Florida Freedom Summit, Nov. 4, 2023, in Kissimmee, Fla.Trump is already laying a sweeping set of policy goals should he win a second term as president. Priorities on the Republican's agenda include a mass deportation operation, a new Muslim ban and tariffs on all imported goods. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

Haley says Trump’s plan for more tariffs will inflict economic hardship on U.S. consumers

Nikki Haley is warning that former President Donald Trump's plan for new tariffs on foreign goods will push prices higher for American consumers.

January 29, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event at The North Charleston Coliseum, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

Trump’s advantage on top GOP issues poses another hurdle for Haley

Former President Donald Trump's dominance on the issues that matter most to GOP primary voters -- the economy and immigration -- casts a dark cloud over Nikki Haley's hopes of delivering a come-from-behind victory.

January 26, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event at The North Charleston Coliseum, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford) **FILE**

Haley: Trump cannot ‘bully’ his way to the 2024 GOP presidential nomination

Nikki Haley on Friday accused former President Donald Trump of trying to "bully" his way to winning the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

January 26, 2024

President Donald Trump, left, remains on stage as then-Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, right, walks away Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) **FILE**

Americans dread likely Biden-Trump rematch, looking at ‘lesser-of-two-evils’ choice in 2024

The United States is hurtling toward a general election rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump that gives most voters the heebie-jeebies.

January 24, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. At right is Eric Trump. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Trump mauls ‘imposter’ Haley in victory speech

Former President Donald Trump celebrated his victory in the New Hampshire primary by mocking Nikki Haley for "pretending" to win GOP nomination contests that she loses.

January 23, 2024

President Joe Biden speaks during an event on the campus of George Mason University in Manassas, Va., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, to campaign for abortion rights, a top issue for Democrats in the upcoming presidential election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden wins New Hampshire primary despite not appearing on ballot

President Biden emerged victorious in the New Hampshire presidential primary Tuesday despite not appearing on the ballot.

January 23, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Trump defeats Haley in New Hampshire to sweep first two nominating contests

Former President Donald Trump clinched a second win in the Republican primary, defeating his sole remaining opponent, Nikki Haley, in New Hampshire on Tuesday as she made plans to keep battling for the nomination until at least March.

January 23, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley addresses members of the media, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, near a polling site at Winnacunnet High School, in Hampton, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Tough road ahead belies Haley campaign’s optimism

Regardless of the result in the New Hampshire primary, Nikki Haley faces an uphill battle in the GOP presidential race moving forward.

January 23, 2024

Malikiah Guillory, a 19-year-old volunteer and sophomore at St. Olaf College, stacks yard signs as part of a course he is taking on campaigns and politics in Hooksett, N.H., Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. President Joe Biden is skipping the New Hampshire Democratic primary on Tuesday because it doesn't comply with party rules, but some supporters have begun a campaign to get voters to write-in his name on the ballot. (AP Photo/Will Weissert)

Biden surrogates struggle to avoid what could be an embarrassing loss in New Hampshire

President Biden's campaign team is scrambling to win Tuesday's New Hampshire primary despite the decision to leave his name off the ballot.

January 20, 2024

A group from St. Michael the Archangel School in Findlay, Ohio, gathers during the Ohio March for Life rally at the Ohio State House in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 6, 2023. Abortion is expected to be a major issue in 2024 for voters, courts and state lawmakers. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, file)

Marco Rubio crafts election-year blueprint for GOP’s abortion agenda

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has laid out a road map for Republicans to drive the abortion narrative away from Democrats, promote candidates at the ballot box and save the lives of the unborn.

January 18, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump takes the stage at a caucus night party in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump’s Iowa win underscores his dominance on border issues that motivate GOP voters

Republicans like to say every state is now a border state and that sentiment shined through in former President Donald Trump's commanding victory in the Iowa GOP caucuses.

January 16, 2024

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to supporters during a caucus night party, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DeSantis ekes out narrow second-place win over Haley in Iowa

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose campaign some believed would not survive if he failed to place second in the Iowa caucus, narrowly secured the number-two position over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, analysts projected late Monday.

January 16, 2024

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks to caucusgoers, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, at Horizon Events Center in Clive, Iowa. (Michelle Gutierrez/The Des Moines Register via AP)

Toned-down Trump promises to unite country in Iowa victory speech

Former President Trump struck conciliatory notes in his Iowa-caucuses victory speech Monday night, praising his vanquished GOP opponents and promised to unite the country and turn it around.

January 15, 2024

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign event, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, at Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Republican candidates Nikki Haley and DeSantis have multiples stops scheduled ahead of voting on the coldest Iowa caucus day ever. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

DeSantis team cries foul after Iowa called early for Trump

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida lashed out at the media Monday after networks declared former President Donald Trump the winner before some caucus sites had started voting.

January 15, 2024

Eric Trump leaves the New York Supreme Court, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Eric Trump: Quick Iowa call shows voters ‘adore Donald Trump’

Former President Donald Trump's son Eric Trump had just wrapped up speaking on behalf of his father at a caucus site here when he learned the race had already been called.

January 15, 2024