COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Donald Trump stormed to victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday night, cementing his path to the Republican presidential nomination and reaffirming his dominance over the GOP.
The former president’s win — which was so decisive that the AP projected him the victor solely based on a voter survey — came in the home state of his only major Republican rival, Nikki Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina from 2011. Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the U.N., has vowed to continue her fight through Super Tuesday. But there are few visible paths for her to secure the delegates needed to win the nomination.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Donald Trump stormed to victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday night, cementing his path to the Republican presidential nomination and reaffirming his dominance over the GOP.
The former president’s win — which was so decisive that the AP projected him the victor solely based on a voter survey — came in the home state of his only major Republican rival, Nikki Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina from 2011. Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the U.N., has vowed to continue her fight through Super Tuesday. But there are few visible paths for her to secure the delegates needed to win the nomination.
“Wow,” said Trump, “that was sooner than we anticipated. We had an even bigger win than we anticipated.”
Trump spoke to the crowd in a generic ballroom at the South Carolina fairgrounds almost immediately after the race was called, having felt like Haley stole the spotlight from him in New Hampshire when she got in front of cameras first despite losing. Standing on stage flanked by family members and political allies, Trump did not mention Haley at all. Aides to the campaign said the message he wanted to deliver today was that the primary is over.
“On November 5th, we’re going to get up here and say, ‘Joe you’re fired! You’re fired! Get out!’” Trump said.