Donald Trump cruised to a decisive victory on Saturday (Feb 24) in the South Carolina Republican primary, blitzing rival Nikki Haley in her home state and continuing his march to the nomination and a White House rematch with Joe Biden.
Trump completed a sweep of the first four major nominating contests, converting a year of blockbuster polls into a likely insurmountable lead going into the “Super Tuesday” 15-state voting bonanza in 10 days.
Haley had vowed to fight on regardless of the outcome but Trump, seeking to move quickly from the primary to the election proper, didn’t mention her once during a victory speech in which he turned his fire on Biden.
“We’re going to be up here on Nov 5 and we’re going to look at Joe Biden – we’re going to look him right in the eye, he’s destroying our country – and we’re going to say, Joe, you’re fired. Get out,” Trump said to cheers at his victory party in state capital Columbia.
Haley repeatedly questioned the 77-year-old former president’s mental fitness and warned another Trump presidency would bring “chaos”, her efforts appeared to do little to damage his standing among Republicans.
Speaking ahead of voting booths closing to the Conservative Political Action Committee conference – a must-stop for Republican politicians – Trump spent much of his time bashing Biden, not Haley.
AFP
