According to projections by media outlets such as CNN, former US President Donald Trump has won the Republican primaries in the state of South Carolina, thereby depriving his main rival Nikki Haley, on whom hopes were pinned, of almost all chances of a possible victory in her home state.
With this victory, Trump will receive the 29 delegates he managed to win, and the remaining 21 delegates will be awarded based on the results of the congressional districts, with three delegates corresponding to the winner in each of the state’s seven districts.
So far, Haley has won 17 delegates and Trump 92 in the primaries in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada as well as the territory of the Virgin Islands. To win the Republican nomination, 1,215 delegates are needed.
The former president has already come to celebrate his victory, assuring in a speech reported by CNN that the projected results represent “an even bigger victory” than expected.
“There has never been a mood like this,” Trump said as he addressed the cheering crowd at his election night party in Colombia, adding that he had “never seen the Republican Party as united as it is now.”
“This was a little earlier than we expected and an even bigger victory than we expected,” he concluded.
Trump consolidates his Republican presidential victory
The Republican presidential primary in South Carolina is considered the most important race of the season, as Mitt Romney in 2012 became the only Republican since 1980 to become president of the party in that state without winning Trump is an almost certainty way to achieve your goal.
Additionally, according to data collected by CNN, there is no other example in the last 40 years of a presidential primary in which a candidate has overcome the deficit that Haley achieved in her home state, putting the candidate on second alert. Since modern primaries began in 1972, no major party candidate has lost their home state during primary season.
Will Haley continue her fight?
Haley’s team has currently given no response to her defeat, but her followers have assured that they will continue to support her. “I don’t think this is over,” one of her supporters present in the candidate’s room told CNN, optimistic about the election in North Carolina.
“We are for anyone who is against Trump,” another Haley supporter in the room was heard shouting, while several people said they didn’t trust the forecast and were generally frustrated with the polls.
No one in the room defended that this is the beginning of the end for Haley, an idea shared by the candidate herself, as she insisted before these primaries that she would continue the presidential race at least through the Super Tuesday march.
“South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday I will continue to run for president,” Haley said, adding that she is “not going anywhere.”