Trump is joined by South Carolina leaders at New Hampshire rally as he tries to undercut Haley

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) — Donald Trump surrounded himself with leaders from Nikki Haley’s home state in a show of strength ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

Trump was joined at a rally at the NHU Arena in Manchester Saturday night by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, the state’s lieutenant governor and a slew of other senior officials, including the state’s attorney general, treasurer and House speaker. The statewide officials, along with U.S. Reps. Joe Wilson, William Timmons and Russell Fry, appeared on stage with Trump.

“Almost every politician from South Carolina is endorsing me,” Trump declared.

The South Carolinians urged the voters to carry Trump to a win in New Hampshire before the contest moves to their state and its decisive early contest set for next month.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«Other news» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Other news </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> DeSantis gets a warm welcome in South Carolina, but even some supporters think he can’t beat Trump </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Nikki Haley has spent 20 years navigating Republican Party factions. Trump may make that impossible </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Trump mocks Nikki Haley’s first name. It’s his latest example of attacking rivals based on race<use xlink:href="#play-icon" xmlns:xlink=«http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink»> </bsp-custom-headline> </bsp-list-loadmore>

“If you do that and you win by a big margin here, we’ll finish the job in South Carolina,” said Murrell Smith, the