Trump wins South Carolina, beating Haley in her home state
CHARLESTON, S.C. >> Donald Trump won South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday, beating former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third consecutive GOP nomination.
Trump now has swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, with wins already in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The former president's latest victory will likely increase pressure on Haley, who was Trump's former representative to the U.N. and South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, to leave the race.
A 2020 general rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden is becoming increasingly inevitable. Haley has vowed to stay in the race through at least the batch of primaries on March 5, known as Super Tuesday, but was unable to dent Trump's momentum in her home state despite holding far more campaign events and arguing that the indictments against Trump will hamstring him against Biden.
The Associated Press declared Trump the winner as polls closed statewide at 7 p.m. The AP based its race call on an analysis of AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of Republican South Carolina primary voters. The survey confirms the findings of pre-Election Day polls showing Trump far outpacing Haley statewide.
South Carolina's firstin-the-South primary has historically been a reliable bellwether for Republicans. In all but one primary since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to be the party's nominee. The lone exception was Newt Gingrich in 2012.
Haley said in recent days that she would head straight to Michigan for its Tuesday primary, the last major contest before Super Tuesday. She faces questions about where she might be able to win a contest or be competitive.
Trump and Biden already are behaving like they expect to face off in November.
Trump and his allies argue Biden has made the U.S. weaker and point to the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia's decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump also has repeatedly attacked Biden over high inflation earlier in the president's term and his handling of recordhigh migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexican border.
Trump has questioned — often in harshly personal terms — whether the 81-year-old Biden is too old to serve a second term. Biden's team in turn has highlighted the 77-yearold Trump's own flubs on the campaign trail.
Biden has stepped up his recent fundraising trips around the country and increasingly attacked Trump directly.