Donald Trump comfortably trounced Nikki Haley in South Carolina’s Republican primary on Saturday, extending his victory run as he moves closer to a third consecutive presidential nomination and a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
Despite his long list of felony offenses and Haley’s background as a South Carolina native who served two terms as governor, the former president was generally expected to win the Southern state.
The large result will fuel calls from Trump’s backers for Haley, his final surviving competitor, to drop out of the race. However, Haley, who looked to have surpassed expectations based on surveys, pledged once more that she would battle until “Super Tuesday” on March 5, when Republicans in 15 states and one US territory will vote.
According to Edison, Trump was ahead by 60.0% to 39.4%, a margin of 20.6 percentage points, with almost 83% of the projected vote tabulated. Prior to Saturday, statewide surveys gave Trump an average advantage of 27.6 percentage points, according to the monitoring website 538.
“Forty percent is not some tiny group,” Haley remarked, alluding to her expected vote share on Saturday. “There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative.”
Donald Trump has already topped all five races so far – Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, the US Virgin Islands, and now Haley’s home state – leaving Haley with no clear route to the Republican nomination.
Trump delivered his victory address in Columbia, the state capital, only minutes after the polls closed at 7 p.m. EST (0000 GMT), seizing his party’s mantle as he looked ahead to November’s general election. Haley was not mentioned once.
“I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” he was quoted as saying.
Haley has increased her assaults on Trump in recent days, challenging his mental acumen and warning Americans that he would lose the general election.
However, there is little indication that the majority of Republican supporters are interested in any standard-bearer other than Trump.
Immigration, which Trump has made a significant emphasis of his election campaign, was the top issue for Republican primary voters on Saturday, according to an Edison exit survey. 39% of voters named that issue, while 33% stated the economy was their primary worry.
Approximately 84% of people indicated the economy is neither very good or bad, revealing a huge potential weakness for Biden in the November general election.
However, exit polls once again highlighted Trump’s own vulnerabilities. On Saturday, over one-third of voters felt Donald Trump would be unable to serve as president if convicted of a felony.
Donald Trump’s first criminal trial is set to begin on March 25 in New York City. He is accused of altering company papers to hide hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
He faces three further accusations, including a federal indictment for plotting to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory. Trump has pled not guilty in each instance and claimed, without evidence, that the allegations arise from a Democratic conspiracy to derail his