Donald Trump scored a resounding victory on Saturday in the Republican primary in South Carolina, outpacing his rival Nikki Haley in her own state and maintaining his momentum towards securing the nomination for a White House rematch with Joe Biden in November.
Having won all four major nominating contests so far, Trump has translated his strong polling numbers over the past year into what appears to be an overwhelmingly advantageous position as the “Super Tuesday” 15-state voting spree approaches in just 10 days.
Despite Nikki Haley’s determination to persist in the race regardless of the outcome, Trump, eager to shift focus towards the general election, omitted any mention of her during his victory speech, instead directing his criticism towards Biden.
“We’re going to be up here on November 5 and we’re going to look at Joe Biden — we’re going to look him right in the eye, he’s destroying our country — and we’re going to say, Joe, you’re fired. Get out,” Trump said to cheers at his victory party in state capital, Columbia. 1:01
Haley has continuously raised doubts about the mental sharpness of the 77-year-old ex-president and cautioned that another Trump administration would result in “chaos.”
However, her endeavors seemed to have minimal impact on his popularity within the Republican Party.
Although the exact margin of victory remained unclear, US networks swiftly declared the race moments after the polls closed, indicating a high level of certainty regarding the outcome.
David Darmofal, a politics professor at the University of South Carolina, noted that Trump’s rapid projected victory solidified his position as the “presumptive Republican nominee for president.”
