Trump’s competitor Nikki Haley, who was once governor of the conservative state in the southeast of the USA, suffered a defeat in South Carolina as expected, but the 52-year-old does not want to drop out of the race.
Trump and Haley fought another duel in South Carolina for their party’s nomination for the presidential election on November 5th. After around 80 percent of the votes were counted, Trump led with around 60 percent and was around 20 percentage points ahead of Haley – she reached almost 40 percent. Anyone who wants to become a presidential candidate in the USA must first prevail in internal party primaries. The candidates are officially chosen at party conferences in the summer. The Republican nomination convention will take place in mid-July.
In the internal party primaries, the number of delegate votes up for grabs varies depending on the party and state. How primaries are held varies from state to state. Democrats and Republicans each follow their own system. In South Carolina, party supporters decided on their favorite at polling stations on Saturday. In a few other states, voting takes place at small party meetings, so-called caucuses.
After the vote in South Carolina, Haley appeared serious but combative. She promised to stay in the race no matter what happens in South Carolina, she said. “I am a woman of her word.” 40 percent of the vote is “not a small group” and there are a large number of voters among Republicans who want a real alternative to Trump, Haley said. South Carolina is only the fourth state in which there has been a decision. Decisions will be made in numerous other states in the next ten days.
Bild: JUSTIN SULLIVAN (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA)
Haley, who is considered to be more politically moderate and rhetorically much more moderate than Trump, had hoped for a home advantage in South Carolina. The 52-year-old was the first woman to hold the governorship of the state where she was born from 2011 to 2017. South Carolina is roughly the same size as Austria and has more than five million inhabitants. Around a quarter of the population is black. The South Carolina primary was the first vote in a southern US state.
Trump was almost 30 percentage points ahead of Haley in polls in South Carolina. In national polls he leads by an even clearer margin. The former US ambassador to the United Nations Haley is given little chance of ultimately prevailing against Trump. Now special attention is on March 5th, the so-called Super Tuesday. On this day, Republican primaries will be held simultaneously in 15 states.
Trump triumphed
When the polling stations in South Carolina closed, several US broadcasters declared Trump the winner, citing their own forecasts. “This was a little sooner than we expected, and an even bigger victory than we expected,” Trump told cheering supporters in his victory speech just minutes later. There has “never been” such a mood, and the Republican Party has “never been as united as it is now,” he said.
Trump’s victory in Haley’s homeland underlines the Republican’s support among the party base. Despite his legal problems, he has not lost his popularity among his supporters. There are four criminal proceedings against him, including because of his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The victory in South Carolina makes Trump’s candidacy for the Republicans in the November presidential election more likely. As of now, everything points to another duel between him and incumbent President Biden.
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