February 25, 2024

Donald Trump is one step closer to the Republican presidential nomination after a massive win over Nikki Haley in South Carolina. The former president won his primary opponent’s home state by a 20-point margin, his fourth consecutive victory. As he celebrated Mr Trump made no mention of Ms Haley, who vowed to stay in the race. Instead he set his sights on the general election in November. That will be a likely rematch with his successor in the White House. “We’re going to look Joe Biden right in the eye,” he told supporters minutes after US media projected him as the winner on Saturday night. “He’s destroying our country – and we’re going to say ‘get out Joe, you’re fired’.” Mr Trump lauded his party’s “unity” after Saturday’s result, saying: “There’s never been a spirit like this. I have never seen the Republican Party so unified.” It marked a shift from his response to last month’s primary in New Hampshire, where he raged against Ms Haley for “doing a speech like she won”. Ms Haley, who once served as a popular two-term governor of South Carolina, congratulated her opponent on his victory in her speech. She promised not to quit, however, saying the roughly 40% of the vote she received was “not some tiny group”. “There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative,” she said, emphasising that her continued campaign was not about her own political ambitions. “I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she added. She has re-committed to staying in the race until at least Super Tuesday – 5 March – when voters in 16 states will cast their ballots on the same day. “I’m a woman of my word,” the former UN ambassador said. “We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow, and we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week.”