Donald Trump won South Carolina바카라s Republican primary on Saturday, easily beating former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third straight GOP nomination.
Donald Trump바카라s political strength has endured despite facing 91 criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, the discovery of classified documents in his Florida residence and allegations that he secretly arranged payoffs to a porn actress.
Donald Trump won South Carolina바카라s Republican primary on Saturday, easily beating former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third straight GOP nomination.
Trump has now swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, adding to previous wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The former president바카라s latest victory will likely increase pressure on Haley, who was Trump바카라s former representative to the U.N. and South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, to leave the race.
A 2020 general rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden is becoming increasingly inevitable. Haley has vowed to stay in the race through at least the batch of primaries on March 5, known as Super Tuesday, but was unable to dent Trump바카라s momentum in her home state despite holding far more campaign events and arguing that the indictments against Trump will hamstring him against Biden.
The Associated Press declared Trump the winner as polls closed statewide at 7 p.m. That race call was based on an analysis of AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of Republican South Carolina primary voters. The survey confirmed the findings of pre-Election Day polls showing Trump far outpacing Haley statewide.
바카라I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,바카라 Trump declared, taking the stage for his victory speech mere moments after polls closed. He added, 바카라You can celebrate for about 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work.바카라
South Carolina바카라s first-in-the-South primary has historically been a reliable bellwether for Republicans. In all but one primary since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to be the party바카라s nominee. The lone exception was Newt Gingrich in 2012.
Also Read | The Question Of Democracy In India
Trump was dominant across the state, even leading in Lexington County, which Haley represented in the state Legislature. Many Trump-backing South Carolinians, even some who previously supported Haley during her time as governor, weren바카라t willing to give her a home-state bump.
바카라She바카라s done some good things,바카라 Davis Paul, 36, said about Haley as he waited for Trump at a recent rally in Conway. 바카라But I just don바카라t think she바카라s ready to tackle a candidate like Trump. I don바카라t think many people can.
At Haley headquarters on Saturday night, her supporters waved her signs in front of a large projection screen showing Trump바카라s speech, blocking it from view. That, of course, didn바카라t make the defeat any less crushing.
Haley insisted in recent days that she would head straight to Michigan for its Tuesday primary, the last major contest before Super Tuesday. Still, she faces questions about where she might be able to win a contest or be competitive.
Trump and Biden are already behaving like they expect to face off in November.
Trump and his allies argue Biden has made the U.S. weaker and point to the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia바카라s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump has also repeatedly attacked Biden over high inflation earlier in the president바카라s term and his handling of record-high migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump has questioned 바카라 often in harshly personal terms 바카라 whether the 81-year-old Biden is too old to serve a second term. Biden바카라s team in turn has highlighted the 77-year-old Trump바카라s own flubs on the campaign trail.
Biden has stepped up his recent fundraising trips around the country and increasingly attacked Trump directly. He바카라s called Trump and his 바카라Make America Great Again바카라 movement dire threats to the nation바카라s founding principles, and the president바카라s reelection campaign has lately focused most of its attention on Trump suggesting he바카라d use the first day of a second presidency as a dictator and that he바카라d tell Russia to attack NATO allies who fail to keep up with defense spending obligations mandated by the alliance.
Haley also criticized Trump on his NATO comments and also for questioning why her husband wasn바카라t on the campaign trail with her 바카라 even as former first lady Melania Trump hasn바카라t appeared with him. Maj. Michael Haley is deployed in the Horn of Africa on a mission with the South Carolina Army National Guard.
But South Carolina바카라s Republican voters line up with Trump on having lukewarm feelingsabout NATO and continued U.S. support for Ukraine, according to AP VoteCast data from Saturday바카라s primary. About 6 in 10 oppose continuing aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Only about a third described America바카라s participation in NATO as 바카라very good,바카라 with more saying it바카라s only 바카라somewhat good.바카라
Haley has raised copious amounts of campaign money and is scheduled to begin a cross-country campaign swing on Sunday in Michigan ahead of Super Tuesday on March 5, when many delegate-rich states hold primaries.
But it바카라s unclear how she can stop Trump from clinching enough delegates to become the party바카라s presumptive nominee for the third time.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., complimented Haley while speaking to reporters at Trump바카라s election night party in Columbia but suggested it was time for her to drop out.
바카라I think the sooner she does, the better for her, the better for the party,바카라 Graham said. Later, the senator was greeted with boos after Trump called him to the stage to address those gathered.
Trump바카라s political strength has endured despite facing 91 criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, the discovery of classified documents in his Florida residence and allegations that he secretly arranged payoffs to a porn actress.
The former president바카라s first criminal trial is set to begin on March 25 in New York, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the closing weeks of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Biden won South Carolina바카라s Democratic primary earlier this month and faces only one remaining challenger, Dean Phillips. The Minnesota Democratic congressman has continued to campaign in Michigan ahead of the Democratic primary there, despite having little chance of actually beating Biden.
Though Biden is expected to cruise to his party바카라s renomination, he faces criticism from some Democrats for providing military backing to Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Some in his party support a ceasefire as the death toll in Israel바카라s war has reached 30,000 people, two-thirds of them women and children. The war could hurt the president바카라s general election chances in swing states like Michigan, which is home to a large Arab American population.