Trump wins South Carolina GOP primary as Haley vows to stay in race
Here are some key takeaways from South Carolina’s Republican primary
From CNN’s Gregory Krieg and Eric Bradner
Former President Donald Trump was projected winner in the South Carolina GOP primary, defeating former Gov. Nikki Haley on her home turf as he completed his sweep of the early voting states. These are five key takeaways from the contest:
The race accelerates now: The slow march through the early voting states is over, and the primary is now a national one. By March 12, 56% of the delegates to the Republican National Convention will have been awarded. And in most states, Republicans’ delegates are winner-take-all — which means Haley gets no credit for strong second-place showings. With Haley winless so far, the finish line — 1,215 delegates necessary to clinch the nomination — could be in sight for Trump within weeks.
Trump dominates the GOP establishment — again: In case it wasn’t clear when he won the nomination in 2016, became president, ran all but a select few Republican critics out of office or the party, then stormed into the 2024 race despite facing multiple indictments: The GOP belongs to Donald Trump. Trump’s success in Haley’s home state underscores how much has changed in less than a decade. Nor has it been a hostile takeover, no matter how hostile Trump can be toward his rivals: Most Republican voters are all in on Trump, and the parts of his personality that make establishment Republicans cringe are — as we’ve seen — actually a large part of his appeal to a majority of voters.
Where does Haley go from here? There was once a narrow, but tantalizing, path for Haley to seriously challenge Trump for the Republican nomination. It started with winning in New Hampshire and her home state. But that potentially game-changing stretch of the Republican primary race is over. Following Saturday’s projected loss, Haley’s campaign announced a swing through Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado and Utah starting Sunday, and she’s also spending money on advertising targeting Super Tuesday states. Whether she’ll actually notch any wins and begin to seriously challenge Trump in the delegate race, though, is a tougher question.
A big enough pro-Haley coalition doesn’t exist in GOP primaries: Haley’s campaign has long touted general election polls that show her in a much stronger position than Trump in a hypothetical matchup against Biden. But she can’t skip the step of defeating Trump in a primary first. There’s long been a theoretical coalition for Haley that includes moderate Republicans, independents allowed to vote in Republican primaries in some states and those turned off by Trump — particularly suburban, college-educated voters who have fled the party since Trump’s ascension in 2016. But that coalition isn’t showing up for Haley in the primary — at least not in enough force.
Tim Scott’s veepstakes audition: The most important result of South Carolina’s primary might be the cozy relationship Trump seemed to develop with his onetime 2024 GOP primary rival, Sen. Tim Scott. The last few weeks may have served as Scott’s audition for the vice presidential nomination. He campaigned with Trump, appeared alongside him in a Fox News town hall and other interviews, and urged Haley — who appointed him to his Senate seat when she was governor — to get out of the race.
Haley will win the 3 GOP delegates of South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District
From CNN’s Ethan Cohen
CNN can project that Nikki Haley will win South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, and the district’s three delegates.
Donald Trump has so far won 44 delegates in the Palmetto State. The last three delegates will be awarded to the winner of the 6th Congressional District.
Here are the total delegates both candidates have won to date:
Remember: 1,215 delegates are required to win the Republican nomination.
Haley homed in on foreign policy, but majority of South Carolinians say foreign policy was not their top issue
From CNN’s Kylie Atwood
Nikki Haley aggressively went after former President Donald Trump over the last few weeks after he said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defense.
Haley accused Trump of siding with a “dictator who kills his political opponents,” at many events, and sometimes went even further.
“Trump is siding with a tyrant who arrests political journalists and holds them hostage. Trump is siding with Putin, who’s made no bones about wanting to destroy America,” Haley told supporters in South Carolina two days before the primary.
Her message hit home for many of her supporters who spoke with CNN at her events, and indeed, CNN exit polls showed that for 73% of Haley voters, foreign policy was the most important issue.
But only 13% of voters overall in the exit polls named it their top issue. Foreign policy ranked far behind immigration and the economy for the majority of voters, which means Haley’s message didn’t resonate with a wide swath of South Carolinians.
Trump picks up 6 more delegates in South Carolina, CNN projects
From CNN’s Ethan Cohen
Former President Donald Trump will win South Carolina’s 2nd and 4th Congressional districts, CNN projects, picking up six more delegates.
Trump has so far won 44 delegates in the Palmetto State. The remaining six delegates will be awarded based on the results in the 1st and 6th Congressional districts, with three delegates awarded to the winner of each.
Here are the total delegates won to date:
- Trump: 107
- Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley: 17
Remember: 1,215 delegates are required to win the Republican nomination.
Michigan voters weigh feelings about Trump and Biden’s ages ahead of Tuesday’s primary
A group of Detroit, Michigan, voters were split when it came to how they felt about the ages of presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The group included veterans or family to veterans. They provided CNN with their first names.
A Democratic voter named Bill told CNN’s Gary Tuchman that he does believe Biden “is a little too old” to serve as president, but pointed out the age gap between the two candidates is only four years. He said Trump and Biden are “about the same age.”
Michigan is set to hold the next primary of the 2024 cycle on Tuesday.
Republican voter Rich told Tuchman that Trump’s age is “just a number.” He said he thinks it’s time for Nikki Haley to drop out of the race.
Colleen, another Republican, agreed that Trump’s age won’t affect her vote for him, saying that not even Trump’s legal woes would sway her support. She added that she does not believe Haley “has enough momentum to unify the Republican party.”
But Jeff, an Independent, is leaning toward Haley, even after her projected loss Saturday in the South Carolina primary. He said he was impressed by Haley’s speech tonight following her loss
“She actually gave me a spark of hope that there is some new blood that could do the country well,” he said.
Voters Kort and Del said the ages of Biden and Trump have also influenced their positions ahead of the primary in their state.
Biden says “Trump wants to take us backwards” following South Carolina GOP primary
From CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg
President Joe Biden said Donald Trump “wants to take us backwards” following the former president’s projected win in the South Carolina GOP primary.
“Every day, we are reminded of the threat Donald Trump poses to our future as Americans grapple with the damage he left behind,” Biden said in a statement released by his 2024 presidential campaign Saturday night. “In 2020, I ran for president because the very soul of America was at risk.”
Biden said Trump’s recent comments that his mug shot and indictments appeal to Black voters tap into “a hatred and divisiveness that is the very worst of us.”
“We all have more to do to push towards a more perfect union, but Trump wants to take us backwards,” the president said.
Biden also cited abortion access, the economy, and the January 6, 2021, insurrection in his statement, concluding by saying Americans of all political parties should “keep moving forward.”
Trump campaign is expected to pivot more to general election
From CNN’s Kristen Holmes
An adviser to former President Donald Trump says to expect Trump and his campaign team to begin a more extensive pivot to the general election after tonight — including conversations about how to build out their teams in critical swing states like Michigan, Arizona and Georgia.
While Trump remains privately irked that Haley is remaining in the race, his allies are urging him to aim his ire at President Joe Biden, and to act like the presumptive nominee.
One senior adviser said that’s easier said than done, acknowledging they’ve told him to “ignore her” a number of times.
Here’s what sources are saying about Haley’s next steps
From CNN’s Kasie Hunt
What I’m hearing from most of my sources is speculation about Nikki Haley’s future — and what damage she might do to herself if she continues in the race. Her campaign just formally announced she’s staying, in an email with the subject line, “The fight goes on.”
Here’s a roundup of some of the chatter surrounding Haley’s projected loss in her home state:
- If she continues to damage former President Donald Trump by drawing resources away from his bid against President Joe Biden, one longtime Republican who has worked on conservative presidential campaigns says she could start to endanger her standing with party stalwarts, who may not love Trump but can’t stomach even more damage to the GOP.
- Another source said Haley could cross a line in her resistance to Trump that puts her at risk of having no future in the GOP.
- A defender of Haley argues we live in a “post-conventional wisdom” world. So, why should Trump be the only one who gets to defy conventional wisdom?
- Capturing at least 40% of the vote in South Carolina is a key threshold. Aides are watching it closely as results continue to be released. Haley herself referenced it onstage during her address to supporters tonight, calling 40% of the GOP electorate “not some tiny group.”
- Watching Haley’s speech, it’s hard not to wonder about the specter of a potential third-party candidacy, which still hangs over this election. Haley, for her part, has said she hasn’t considered it.
Haley hits the trail for a busy 10 days ahead
From CNN’s Kylie Atwood in Charleston, South Carolina
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will dive into a busy 10 days beginning Sunday: She is heading to Michigan and then onto at least eight Super Tuesday states as she keeps her campaign alive, despite a loss in her home state.
Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney told CNN that Haley will travel to Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont over the course of the next 10 days.
Haley’s schedule shows where the campaign sees fertile ground, mostly states in the northeast and in the western part of the country.
Massachusetts and Vermont have a winner-take-all rule if one candidate clinches more than 50% of the vote, and the campaign thinks that hitting that goal could be possible for Haley, one campaign official said.
Campaign reaching out to donors: Haley has 10 fundraisers planned — with one in every state that she is visiting — according to a campaign email sent to donors and reviewed by CNN, which promises the sprint to be “a wild ride.”
Some Haley donors told CNN that they still plan to throw their support behind her, despite her South Carolina loss. But one donor said that if she does not perform well on Super Tuesday, it “will put a significant dent in her armor.”
