Donald Trump scored a whirlwind victory Saturday in the South Carolina Republican primary, defeating rival Nikki Haley in his home state and continuing his march toward the nomination and a White House rematch with Joe Biden in November.
Asset completed a sweep of the first four major nominating contests, converting a year of blockbuster polling into a likely insurmountable lead heading into 15-state Super Tuesday in 10 days.
Haley had promised to fight regardless of the outcome, but Trump, seeking to move quickly from the primary to the election proper, did not mention her once during a victory speech in which he turned the fire on Biden.
“We will be here on November 5 and we will examine Joe Biden — we’re going to look him in the eye, he’s destroying our country — and we’re going to say, Joe, you’re fired. Get out,” Trump said to the cheers of his victorious party in the Colombian state capital.
Haley has repeatedly questioned the 77-year-old former president’s sanity and warned that another Trump presidency would bring “chaos,” but his efforts appear to have done little to harm his reputation among Republicans.
The margin of victory was not immediately clear, but US networks felt able to call the race within seconds of voting closing, suggesting there was little doubt about the outcome.
David Darmofal, a politics professor at the University of South Carolina, said the speed of Trump’s projected victory confirmed him as “effectively the presumptive Republican nominee for president.”
“This rapid appeal is a bad outcome for former Governor Haley in her home state. The speed of the appeal will likely result in additional pressure for her to drop out of the race,” he told the AFP.
Haley, a popular South Carolina governor in the 2010s and the only woman to enter the Republican contest, was looking to exceed expectations in her own backyard and go into Super Tuesday with the wind in her sails.
But she was never able to compete on a battleground that preferred Trump’s “America First” right-wing populism and personal grievances over the four criminal indictments and multiple civil lawsuits he faces .
Trump had already won Iowa by 30 points and New Hampshire by 10, while a dispute in Nevada allowed the real estate mogul to run unopposed in the first official contest in the western United States .
‘Chaos’
Trump aides have made it clear they want to eliminate Haley well before the Republican National Convention in July — and expect the party to rally around the frontrunner before the first of his criminal trials on March 25.
Haley — a traditional conservative who advocates limited government and a muscular foreign policy — argued that a Trump presidency would be mired in scandal from day one.
The 52-year-old former UN ambassador underscored the point Saturday by calling comments Trump made to black conservatives on the campaign trail “disgusting.”
In a nod to his multiple accusations, Trump said “black people love me because they’ve been so badly hurt and discriminated against, and they actually looked at me like I was discriminated against “.
Haley also blasted Trump’s reaction to the Russian dissident’s death Alexei Navalny — he avoided criticizing the president Vladimir Poutine — and his threat to encourage Moscow to attack NATO Nations are not meeting their financial obligations.
Her central argument — that polls show she performs better than Trump in hypothetical matchups with Biden — may have fallen on deaf ears, but she vowed to stay in the race at least until Super Tuesday.
Analysts say she is building her profile for a possible 2028 run — and is ready to step in if legal or health issues eliminate Trump from the race.
“Nikki Haley is an incredible role model,” said Republican voter Julie Taylor. “She doesn’t give up, she shows strength, grace and courage.”
