CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — donald trump He easily defeated the former U.N. ambassador in South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday. nikki haley The victory in her home state further solidified her path to winning the Republican nomination for a third consecutive year.
Trump now wins all races for Republican delegates, adding to previous wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Haley has come under increasing pressure to drop out of the race, but despite losing the state he served as governor from 2011 to 2017, he has said he is not going anywhere.
Rematch with President Trump in 2020 joe biden It's becoming more and more inevitable. Haley has vowed to remain in the race at least through the March 5 primary, known as Super Tuesday, even though she has held more campaign events and argued that the charges against Trump would be a hindrance. However, he was unable to weaken Trump's momentum in his home state. He opposes Biden.
Associated Press declared trump the winner That campaign call, as statewide voting ended at 7 p.m. AP voting cast, a comprehensive survey of South Carolina Republican primary voters. The poll confirmed pre-Election Day polls showing Trump with a wide lead over Haley statewide.
President Trump took to the podium to deliver his victory speech shortly after voting ended, declaring, “I have never seen the Republican Party more united than we are now.” “You can celebrate for 15 minutes, but then you have to go back to work,” he added.
South Carolina's first primary in the South has historically been a reliable bellwether for Republicans. Since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has been the party's nominee in all but one primary. The only exception was Newt Gingrich in 2012.
Mr. Trump was leading statewide and even in Lexington County, where Ms. Haley represented the state in the state legislature. Many South Carolinians who support Trump have been reluctant to give her credit for her home state, including some who supported Haley when she was governor.
“She's done good things,” Davis Paul, 36, said of Haley while waiting for President Trump at a recent rally in Conway. “But I don't think she's ready to take on a candidate like Trump. I don't think many people are capable of that.”
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a primary election night party at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds on Saturday, February 24, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
At Haley's headquarters Saturday night, supporters waved signs and blocked the view in front of a large projection screen showing President Trump's speech. Of course, that didn't make the defeat any less devastating.
About an hour later, Haley took to the stage and said, “What I saw today was dissatisfaction in South Carolina with the direction of our country. I've seen similar dissatisfaction across the country.”
“I don't believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden,” Haley said, later adding. I am a woman of my word. ”
She said she plans to head to Michigan for Tuesday's primary, the last major campaign before Super Tuesday. Still, she faces questions about where she can win or even be competitive.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are already acting as if they are anticipating a showdown in November.
Mr. Trump and his allies argue that Mr. Biden has weakened America, pointing out the following points: Chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and of russia The decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.Trump has also repeatedly attacked Biden. High inflation early in the presidential term and how to treat him Number of migrants passing through reaches record high At the US-Mexico border.
President Trump has often questioned, in harsh and personal terms, whether Biden, 81, is too old to serve a second term. Meanwhile, Biden's team highlighted the 77-year-old Trump's own campaign failures.
Mr. Biden He recently stepped up fundraising efforts across the country. And increasingly he attacked Trump directly. He has criticized Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement as a dire threat to the nation's founding principles, and the president's re-election campaign has recently signaled that Trump will use the election to his advantage. is attracting the most attention. The first day of the second president's inauguration as a dictator and he would Direct Russia to attack NATO allies Those who are unable to meet their defense spending obligations mandated by the Alliance.
Haley also criticized Trump's comments about NATO. I wonder why my husband didn't participate in the election campaign. Even if former first lady Melania Trump didn't show up with him. Maj. Michael Haley is deployed to the Horn of Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard.
But Republican voters in South Carolina Agree with Trump on having lukewarm feelings on NATO and continued U.S. aid to Ukraine, according to AP VoteCast data from Saturday's primary. About 6 in 10 oppose continued aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Only a third of respondents said they were “very good” about US participation in NATO, and many said it was only “somewhat good.”
Haley has raised a huge amount of money for her campaign and will begin her cross-country campaign in Michigan on Sunday ahead of Super Tuesday. March 5thwhen states with many delegates hold primaries.
But it's unclear how he can prevent Trump from winning enough delegates to become his party's nominee for a third time.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., praised Haley while speaking to reporters at President Trump's election night party in Columbia, but suggested it was time for her to step down.
“I think the sooner she acts, the better for her and the better for the party,” Graham said. Later, when President Trump called the senator to the stage to address the crowd, he was booed.
President Trump's political power continues despite the following circumstances: 91 criminal charges The charges relate to his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election, the discovery of classified documents at his Florida home, and allegations that he secretly arranged payoffs for porn stars. .
The first criminal trial for a former president Scheduled to start from March 25th In New York, he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Biden won South Carolina's Democratic primary earlier this month and will face the only remaining challenger, Dean Phillips. The Democratic congressman from Minnesota continues to campaign in Michigan ahead of the state's Democratic primary, even though he has little chance of actually defeating Biden.
Biden, who is expected to advance to his party's renomination, faces criticism from some Democrats for providing military aid to Israel in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. With the death toll in Israel's war reaching 30,000, some in the party support a ceasefire. Two-thirds of them are women and children.War could damage the president's chances of a general election Battleground states like Michiganwhere many Arab Americans live.
___
Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and James Pollard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
___
Meg Kinard can be contacted at: http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP Will Weissert can be contacted at: https://twitter.com/apwillweissert.
