Former President Donald Trump has defeated former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary on Saturday, continuing his dominant streak in contests for the GOP nomination.

The Associated Press called the result within minutes of polls closing Saturday.


What You Need To Know

  • Former President Donald Trump has defeated former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary, The Associated Press projected shortly after polls closed on Saturday

  • Trump's win increases the likelihood of a 2020 rematch in November against President Joe Biden, with the Republican frontrunner sweeping contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands

  • Haley, who served two terms as South Carolina's governor and is the last obstacle in Trump’s path to the nomination left standing, is now faced with determining if she still has any path to the nomination; she pledged earlier this week that she's "not going anywhere"

  • Speaking to supporters on Saturday night, Haley has affirmed her commitment to staying in the 2024 Republican primary race despite her projected loss

Trump's win increases the likelihood of a 2020 rematch in November against President Joe Biden, with the Republican frontrunner sweeping contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Haley, who served two terms as South Carolina's governor and is the last obstacle in Trump’s path to the nomination left standing, is now faced with determining if she still has any path to the nomination — or if she should pack it in after losing her home state. She pledged earlier this week that she's "not going anywhere," vowing to campaign "every day until the last person votes."

"On Nov. 5, we’re going to look at Joe Biden, and we’re gonna look right him in the eye — he’s destroying our country — and we’re gonna say 'Joe, you’re fired, get out!'" Trump said, hearkening back to his reality TV days as the star host of "The Apprentice."

Trump began his speech celebrating the amount of votes received in the South Carolina primary — the most ever received in the state, he claimed — but couldn’t help but dipping into stump speech mode, decrying both immigration and the country’s "laughing stock" status.

"I just wish we could do it quicker — Mr. Governor is there anything you can do with your vast powers?" Trump said to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. "You know, in certain countries, you’re allowed to call your election date? If I had the right to do it, I’d do it tomorrow. I’d say we’re having an election tomorrow. Henry, is there anything you can do?"

McMaster chuckled, though the moment recalled Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, asking him to "find" enough votes to overturn his loss in the state to Biden in 2020.

Trump noted that South Carolina is not the last stop on the trail — that Michigan is coming up ("We’re going to have the auto workers with us," he claimed, despite the United Auto Workers union endorsing Biden last month), followed by the Super Tuesday confluence of primaries.

"I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now," Trump said.

Speaking to supporters on Saturday night, Haley has affirmed her commitment to staying in the 2024 Republican primary race despite her projected loss.

Nearly an hour and a half after polls closed, Haley took to a lectern to say that she saw South Carolina as a family, and that families tell each other "the hard truths." Tension built, as it was unclear what direction she would take next. South Carolina’s frustration, she said, was matched by the frustration she felt across the country.

"I couldn’t be more worried about America, and it seems like our country is falling apart. But here’s the thing — America will come apart if we make the wrong choices. This has never been about me or my political future. We need to beat Joe Biden in November," Haley said. "I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden. Nearly every day, Trump drives people away, including with his comments just yesterday."

On Friday evening, Trump told an assembly of Black conservatives in South Carolina that Black Americans have embraced him more since his four criminal indictments — that they view him as being discriminated against, and similar plights of harm and discrimination in their own experiences.

Haley called those comments "disgusting," saying they were a "huge warning sign."

Earlier this week, Haley told supporters that, no matter what the result in South Carolina, she would continue her run at the presidency, saying that she feels "no need to kiss the ring" and that her own political future "is of zero concern."

"I’m a woman of my word," Haley said. "I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden."

Haley said that she can read the results, and that "40% is not 50%…but it’s not some small group, either." There are huge numbers of voters who are saying they want an alternative, Haley said — and she is determined to be that alternative.

"In the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice, not a Soviet-sytle election with only one candidate" Haley said. "I have a duty to give them that choice."

Trump and Biden are already 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 has also repeatedly attacked Biden over high inflation earlier in the president’s term and his handling of record-high migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico 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-year-old Trump’s own flubs on the campaign trail.

Biden has stepped up his recent fundraising trips around the country and increasingly attacked Trump directly. He’s called Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement dire threats to the nation’s founding principles, and the president’s reelection campaign has lately focused most of its attention on Trump suggesting he’d use the first day of a second presidency as a dictator and that he’d tell Russia to attack NATO allies who fail to keep up with defense spending obligations mandated by the alliance.

Haley also criticized Trump on his NATO comments and also for questioning why her husband wasn’t on the campaign trail with her — even as former first lady Melania Trump hasn’t appeared with him. Maj. Michael Haley is deployed in the Horn of Africa on a mission with the South Carolina Army National Guard.

Haley has raised copious amounts of campaign money and is scheduled to begin a cross-country campaign swing on Sunday in Michigan ahead of Super Tuesday on March 5, when many delegate-rich states hold primaries.

But it’s unclear how she can stop Trump from clinching enough delegates to become the party’s presumptive nominee for the third time.

Trump’s political strength has endured despite facing 91 criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, the discovery of classified documents in his Florida residence and allegations that he secretly arranged payoffs to a porn actress.

The former president’s first criminal trial is set to begin on March 25 in New York, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the closing weeks of his 2016 presidential campaign.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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