Trump wins South Carolina, easily beating Haley in her home state and closing in on GOP nomination
Donald Trump won South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday, easily beating former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third straight GOP nomination. Trump has now swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, adding to previous wins 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 pm. That race call was based on an analysis of AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of Republican South Carolina primary voters. The survey confirmed the findings of pre-Election Day polls showing Trump far outpacing Haley statewide.
«I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,» Trump declared, taking the stage for his victory speech mere moments after polls closed. He added, «You can celebrate for about 15 minutes, but then
