Trump hails ‘great day’ after South Carolina victoryMinutes after his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary was confirmed, Donald Trump appeared on stage in Columbia before a crowd of supporters.
“It’s a great day,” the former president said. He then turned to the contests to come.
“Michigan’s up and we’re gonna have a tremendous success there and then we have a thing called Super Tuesday,” he said, referring to the 15 states that vote on 5 March.
“We’re going to be up here on November 5, and we’re going to look at Joe Biden, and we’re gonna look him right in the eye. He’s destroying our country, and we’re gonna say, Joe, you’re fired. Get out.”
Trump on stage in Columbia Photograph: Andrew Harnik/APKey events
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Per the South Carolina election commission, Donald Trump leads with 59% of the vote compared to Nikki Haley’s 40%.
However, that’s with only 2.17% of counties reporting. Polls taken shortly before the election showed Trump with a lead of about 30 percentage points over Haley.
George Chidi
South Carolina Republican state senator Penry Gustafson met voters outside a church in Lancaster on Saturday, shoring up re-election support among the party faithful. She’s got work to do.
After knocking off a longtime Democratic legislator in 2020 as one of the five female “Sister Senators”, she helped block a total abortion ban by the South Carolina legislature last year. “I’m probably the one who risked the most because I had the most Republican area,” Gustafson said. “I’m a Republican and so it’s not popular. I mean, I’ve been called a RINO baby killer now for two years. But … there’s a lot of things that are wrong about that bill.”
Talk on the campaign trail has turned toward in vitro fertilization. Gustafson is concerned that potential fetal personhood legislation might put South Carolina in the same boat as Alabama.
“This morning, I spent a good chunk of time writing a piece of legislation concerning IVF and making sure that is protected and not at risk,” she said.
“We don’t have that issue right now in South Carolina, but it has been intimated from the floor and in private conversations that there’s a group of people who want to go after IVF and make it illegal. I’m telling you what: that ain’t happening.”
Gustafson is on the campaign trail for Donald Trump, but has no animosity for former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.
“She worked hard. She is a smart, dynamic woman and I like her a lot. I’m proud of her and so glad that she’s running. She is providing a choice and I think that’s very important,” she said.
“My pick is someone who’s done it before. He’s got the experience. He can go in there and dramatically improve things very quickly as far as our geopolitical stance, immigration, and our economy. It’s kind of scary what’s happened in our country and it doesn’t matter if I like him or not. Can he do the job? Well, he can. He will.”
Donald Trump often muses about having powers that he does not have, and tonight was no exception.
Onstage after his win in the South Carolina primary, Trump talked about how he was looking forward to taking on Joe Biden in November, then remarked: “Nine months is a long time. I just wish we could do it quicker.”
“In certain countries, you’re allowed to call your election date. If I had the right to do it, I do it tomorrow. I’d say we’re having an election,” Trump said.
It turns out Donald Trump’s supporters in South Carolina are not as enthusiastic about prominent politicians from the state who support the former president.
In addition to senator Lindsey Graham, the state’s GOP chair Drew McKissick was also booed when Trump called on him:
South Carolina Republican Party Chair Drew McKissick is loudly booed by the crowd at Donald Trump’s victory party.
“We have a highly opinionated crowd.” pic.twitter.com/sY5d0OjEi9
— The Recount (@therecount) February 25, 2024 And here’s the cold reception Graham received when Trump invited him to the podium:
Joan E Greve
Another voter named John, who declined to provide his last name, cast his ballot for Donald Trump at the main branch of the Charleston county public library this afternoon.
“He is the best president in my lifetime,” John said. “I’ve never had a time in my life – and I’ve been around a long time – where I woke up for four straight years and felt the country was in great hands.”
John applauded Haley’s performance as governor of South Carolina, but he argued she should have dropped out of the presidential race “once it was very obvious” that Trump was going to win. Trump has already won the first three voting contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
“I was a big Nikki fan. I still am actually. I thought she was a wonderful governor of South Carolina,” he said. “But I have the template for a guy that served four years as my president, and I know how I felt under Trump. I love Nikki as a governor. I love Trump as my president.”
Donald Trump’s victory speech has mostly been a lovefest – until he called up the state’s US senator Lindsey Graham.
Graham, who famously predicted in 2016, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed” but nonetheless became an ally, was greeted with an awkward combination of boos and cheers from the crowd.
“He happens to be a little bit further left than some of the people on this stage. But I always say when I’m in trouble on the left, I call up Lindsey Graham, and he straightens it out,” Trump said as he introduced Graham, noting: “I love him. He’s a good man.”
“This is the most qualified man to be president of the United States and let it be said that South Carolina created the biggest political comeback in American history,” Graham said as he took the stage.
Lindsey Graham with Trump at the election rally. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/APTrump hails ‘great day’ after South Carolina victoryMinutes after his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary was confirmed, Donald Trump appeared on stage in Columbia before a crowd of supporters.
“It’s a great day,” the former president said. He then turned to the contests to come.
“Michigan’s up and we’re gonna have a tremendous success there and then we have a thing called Super Tuesday,” he said, referring to the 15 states that vote on 5 March.
“We’re going to be up here on November 5, and we’re going to look at Joe Biden, and we’re gonna look him right in the eye. He’s destroying our country, and we’re gonna say, Joe, you’re fired. Get out.”
Trump on stage in Columbia Photograph: Andrew Harnik/APWhile we don’t have his margin of victory yet, all indications point to a landslide win for Donald Trump in South Carolina.
The Associated Press, which tracks these things very closely, called the race a minute after polls closed. It’s not much of a surprise – the latest opinion surveys of the state’s Republican voters showed him with a 30-point advantage over Nikki Haley.
His victory in South Carolina adds to an unbroken streak of wins in the early voting states, after clinching victory in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Trump wins South Carolina primaryDonald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, the Associated Press reports.
Polls close in South Carolina’s Republican primaryPolls across South Carolina have now closed in the state’s Republican presidential primary.
Polls set to close in South Carolina’s Republican primaryWe are five minutes away from 7pm, when polls are closing in South Carolina’s Republican primary.
Donald Trump is facing off against the state’s former governor Nikki Haley, who is his last major challenger for the party’s nomination. Trump has won all of the states that have voted thus far in the Republican nomination process, and polls show him with an overwhelming advantage in the Palmetto state. Despite that, Haley and her campaign staff said repeatedly this week that she does not plan to quit.
We rely on the Associated Press to call the outcomes of elections, and will let you know when they determine the winner in South Carolina.
Lauren Gambino
Greeting from Nikki Haley’s primary night event in Charleston, which is being held in the chandelier ballroom of a luxury downtown hotel.
Supporters have adopted Haley’s “happy warrior” mentality. Her team is still selling “barred permanently” shirts and “women for Haley” pins in the lobby – a sign of the steady stream of donations that is sustaining her longshot campaign.
Inside, Fox News is on the big screens with the volume on loud. The network just interviewed Trumpworld spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt from the former president’s campaign night event in Columbia. In the interview, which blared across the ballroom, Leavitt derided Haley as “delusion.” Shortly after the interview aired, the Haley campaign muted the TV and turned on the music.
Joan E Greve
Vincent DiMauro, 80, cast a ballot for Nikki Haley this afternoon at the main branch of the Charleston county public library because he believes Donald Trump represents a threat to the nation.
“I want to see the country survive, and I don’t think it will under Trump,” DiMauro said. “He’s totally out of control. He has no respect for other human beings.”
While acknowledging that he did not agree with Haley on every single issue, DiMauro said he would absolutely support her over 81-year-old Joe Biden.
“I’m 80. I can’t be president. I know what my limitations are,” DiMauro said. “He’s just not mentally or physically capable of performing the job as it should be over the next four years.”
Voting began at 7am in South Carolina, and is set to wrap up in less than 30 minutes. Here are some scenes from across the state today as Republican voters cast ballots:
A man votes at the Northlake Fire Station in Irmo. Photograph: Alyssa Pointer/ReutersVoters line up to cast ballots in Mount Pleasant. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersA woman votes at the Richland County Adult Activities Center in Columbia. Photograph: Sam Wolfe/ReutersTrump aims for victory in South Carolina primary as former governor Haley makes standGood evening, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump is likely about an hour away from notching another win in his quest to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, this time in South Carolina, where voters have spent the day casting ballots in the GOP primary. Polls close at 7pm ET in the Palmetto State, which is, of course, the home of Nikki Haley, the former governor who is Trump’s last remaining major rival for the GOP nomination. She may have roots in the state, but surveys have repeatedly shown Trump with a major lead over Haley, who has yet to win a single state in the nomination process thus far, but insists she will not quit her campaign. Surprise are always possible, and we’ll find out soon if any are in store for tonight.
Here’s what else we’re looking for from South Carolina’s Republican primary:
How much support will either candidate receive? While Haley insists she does not plan to quit, a terrible showing will nonetheless up pressure on her to exit the race.
What do exit polls tell us about Haley’s base of support? There are signs from previous states like New Hampshire that Haley’s voters are more moderate than Trump. Should he win the nomination, its unclear if they will come out for the former president in swing states where their votes matter most.
What more will Trump say, should he win? He already made headlines earlier today, when he vowed his election would be “judgment day” for his enemies.