Donald Trump emerged victorious in the South Carolina primary
Donald Trump easily defeated Nikki Haley in South Carolina’s Republican primary on Saturday, extending his winning streak en route to the Republican nomination and a political rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Those predictions later proved true.
Trump enjoyed widespread support in his bid for victory in this southern state. One opinion poll after another showed him holding a significant lead, despite a raft of criminal charges against him and despite the fact that Haley is a South Carolina native who served two terms as governor.
“I have never seen the Republican Party as united as it is right now”, Trump told supporters in Columbia, the state capital, just minutes after the polls closed. He did not mention Haley once during his 30-minute speech.
According to Edison, Trump led 60.5 percent to 38.5 percent, a difference of 22 percentage points, with about 83 percent of the vote counted. Statewide opinion polls taken through Saturday gave Trump an average lead of 27.6 percentage points, according to tracking website 538.
That result is certain to intensify calls by Trump allies for Haley, Trump’s last remaining rival, to drop out of the Republican race. Trump has so far dominated all five party contests: in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, the U.S. Virgin Islands and now Haley’s home state, leaving her with very little chance of securing the Republican Party’s nomination.
The determined Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under President Trump, reiterated Saturday night that she will campaign at least until “Super Tuesday” on March 5, when Republicans in 15 states and one U.S. territory will vote in primaries.
Haley, while criticizing her rival, has focused in recent days on Trump’s stance on Russia following the death in a colony of anti-Putin opposition leader Alexei Navalny. She criticized Trump for waiting several days before commenting on Navalny’s death. She also criticized Trump for not clearly saying that Russian President Putin was responsible for the bizarre death. Haley also condemned Trump’s recent remarks that he would not defend NATO allies from a Russian attack if he saw that they were not spending enough on their defense.
“We need to defeat Joe Biden in November,” Haley told supporters in Charleston, South Carolina, after Saturday’s primary. – I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden.”
However, a 77-year-old Trump victory on Saturday will only increase the pressure on 52-year-old Haley to drop out of the race and allow the former Republican president to turn his attention to campaigning against current Democratic President Biden.
Joe Biden is already talking about Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, characterizing him as a mortal threat to the country.
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