Voters seeking change back Trump at the polls
sharpened their battle to be the alternative to Trump, who faces heavy opposition from many traditional Republicans. They fear the brash billionaire may not be able to win the general election and could drag down other GOP candidates.
“After tonight, this has become a three-person race and we will win the nomination,” Rubio told backers in Columbia, S.C.
Trump, whose South Carolina campaign included attacks on former Republican President George W. Bush over the Iraq war and a flap with Pope Francis over immigration, did well with new GOP voters angry at the government and wanting major change.
An easy winner of the New Hampshire primary Feb. 9, Trump told South Carolina crowds that a win Saturday would enable him to “run the table” in future primaries and caucuses en route to the Republican presidential nomination.
All the candidates are preparing for those contests, which include caucuses Tuesday in Nevada and a string of Southern primaries on March 1.
Cruz, who defeated Trump in the Iowa caucuses and was hoping for a repeat in the first Southern primary, says he is seeking to build “the old Reagan coalition” of evangelicals, economic conservatives, young people and Ronald Reagan-style Democrats.
A lawyer and former Supreme Court law clerk, Cruz left South Carolina for Washington briefly Saturday to attend the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
While Cruz argued during the campaign in South Carolina that Trump is a fake conservative who has backed Democratic causes in the past, Trump accused Cruz of being a liar and dirty trickster.
Trump, whose comments about Mexican immigrants, women and critics in general have been condemned throughout the campaign, added more controversial statements during his time in South Carolina.
During his North Charleston appearance, Trump told an apocryphal story about a U.S. general — John J. Pershing — who executed accused Islamic terrorists a century ago with bullets dipped in pigs’ blood. Historians have debunked the tale.
Rubio, the Florida senator, called Trump’s tale “bizarre,” and told NBC’s show that “I’m sure people are offended. We hope people are offended by that. That’s not what the United States is about.”
Kasich, who finished second to Trump in New Hampshire, had acknowledged his underdog status in South Carolina and is already looking toward future primaries and caucuses.
Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who seemed headed for a sixth-place finish in South Carolina, told supporters he has no plans to withdraw: “We still have the ability to dictate the course of our country.”
Voters offered a variety of reasons for their choices Saturday. Taylor Hall, 23, a law student at the Charleston School of Law, said he planned to vote for Trump because “it’s time for a wake-up call in this country.”
Despite a handshake from Bush at his polling place on Daniel Island, mechanical engineer Ray Summerow, 25, said he went with Cruz. Summerow said Trump has taken liberal positions in the past while the Texas senator has been a more consistent conservative.
Harold Turner, 87, who cast his first presidential vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964, said he decided to back Rubio after seeing him speak in Charleston. “He was truthful, comfortable,” he said. “Not being argumentative.”
Most voters, however, went for Trump. Tyler Westbrook, 53, a retired stock analyst from Charleston, said he simply doesn’t like the direction the country is going in. “I think it’s time for a big change,” Westbrook said, “and ... if I’m in the Republican primary wanting change — it’s got to be Mr. Trump.” Contributing: Julia Jacobs, Nicolas Rivero and Shane McKeon, Medill News Service
Marco Rubio,