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26-02-2024
COLUMBIA, SC: Former President Donald Trump rolled to victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, easily defeating former Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state and moving ever close to the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
The Associated Press and television networks called the race for Trump shortly after the South Carolina polls closed at 7 p.m.
Trump, who also won convention delegate contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, is on track to win the nomination, despite the prospect of up to four criminal trials in the months ahead.
Winning the South Carolina primary is a particularly good sign for Trump. Most of the Republicans who have won the Palmetto State’s primary have gone on to win the party’s nomination, a list that includes Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump himself but Haley isn’t bowing out. In a speech after the results, she said she is staying in the fight.
Trump raced to his watch party podium shortly after the polls closed to accept victory in South Carolina.
“An even bigger win than we anticipated,” Trump said, though the final numbers won’t be clear until later in the evening.
“This is a fantastic evening,” he added. “It’s an early evening.”
Trump talked mostly about his agenda, citing immigration in particular but he did not mention Haley by name.
Instead, he said “I have never seen the Republican Party so unified.”
He also told his supporters to prepare for future primaries, starting with Michigan on Tuesday.
Since the night of the New Hampshire primary, Trump has complained about how quickly Haley came out to tout her performance in that state.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley pledged to stay in the race, saying she worried that former President Donald Trump could not beat President Joe Biden.
“America will come apart if we make the wrong choices. This has never been about me or my political future,” Haley told a cheering crowd. “I am a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight.”
Some Trump backers in South Carolina still don’t like Sen. Lindsey Graham even when he speaks at a Trump victory party.
Many booed Graham after Trump called the veteran senator to the podium.
Trump joked about Graham’s problems with some conservatives, saying he was “further left” than some other Republicans but he added that “I love him; he’s a good man.”
Graham ignored his negative reception, telling the Trump crowd that “South Carolina created the biggest political comeback in American history.”
A fierce critic of Trump during the 2016 primaries, Graham became one of his staunchest defenders during his presidency but many Trump fans have not forgotten. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
