Inside the Hive host Brian Stelter checks in with veteran political reporter and CNN anchor Kasie Hunt fresh off her reporting trip to Iowa, where Donald Trump trounced Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, and on to New Hampshire, the next stop in a GOP race that already feels all but settled. “It is extraordinarily hard to see how either one of them stops Donald Trump’s march to the nomination,” Hunt says.
Hunt reflects on what she’s observed covering Trump since he came down “that golden escalator” at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy, in June 2015, at some of his first rallies in Iowa—and through this past week’s caucus. “There is a difference between how people feel about and act around Donald Trump than there is to how they act around what I would refer to as, like, a normal political candidate,” she says.
“The reaction to and treatment of Donald Trump has always been different,” she says. “It’s more like how people respond to Taylor Swift than how they respond to more traditional types of candidates. Obviously, there are major differences between Taylor and Donald Trump. But the celebrity of it, and just the way people are captivated by who he is. They want to be close to him. It’s just a much different feeling.”
Hunt also notes how the 2024 departs from past primaries, where there was heated competition and a slew of candidates (accompanied by a horde of journalists) racing overnight from Iowa to New Hampshire.
“There was so much suspense. It was honestly so much fun, right? Like, it was democracy at its very best,” she says. “I say all of this because it really provides a contrast to what I experienced earlier this week, because this time it was us, a handful of reporters, a much smaller number than normally do this, and there was only one candidate, [Haley], and they didn’t have any press on their plane.… It wasn’t the same. It really kind of underscored just how much smaller the whole thing was in the face of trying to take on Donald Trump. The reason why there’s no suspense now is because nobody was able to create it in the year that they were trying to run against Donald Trump.”
“As much as I love this stuff, and I was thrilled to be in Iowa, and it was so much fun to be in New Hampshire,” she adds, “it’s just a different kind of election.”
