Donald Trump trounced Nikki Haley on Saturday in the South Carolina primary, a victory that emphatically punctuated the depth and breadth of his support among Republican primary voters as he vanquished his lone remaining major opponent in her home state.
Quick Read
- Trump’s Dominance in South Carolina: Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina primary highlighted his strong support among GOP voters, overshadowing Nikki Haley’s local popularity and credentials.
- Haley’s Ongoing Campaign: Despite the setback, Haley plans to continue her campaign, focusing next on the Michigan primary.
- GOP’s Nationalized Politics: Trump’s successive wins across various regions demonstrate a unified Republican base, largely aligned with his vision, regardless of regional differences or candidates’ local ties.
- Foreign Policy Stance: GOP voters in South Carolina showed a preference for a less interventionist U.S. role in global affairs, resonating with Trump’s “America First” policy, especially regarding Ukraine and NATO.
- Haley’s Challenges Ahead: Haley’s path to victory appears increasingly difficult, with no clear opportunities for wins in upcoming primaries, including Super Tuesday.
- Impact of Donor Support: Haley’s campaign is sustained by anti-Trump Republicans, but her continued presence in the race hinges on ongoing financial backing, despite delegate math favoring Trump.
- Trump’s Legal Uncertainties: The numerous criminal charges against Trump introduce unpredictability into the race, potentially affecting its outcome.
- Delegate Count Focus: The primary race ultimately revolves around securing delegates, with Trump’s South Carolina win further solidifying his lead towards the nomination.
- Tim Scott’s VP Prospects: Senator Tim Scott’s prominent support for Trump in South Carolina positions him as a potential vice-presidential candidate, offering loyalty and broadening voter appeal.
- Unsuccessful Cross-Party Strategy: Haley’s hope for support from Democrats and independents, akin to Biden’s 2020 coalition against Trump, did not materialize in the South Carolina GOP primary.
The Associated Press has the story:
South Carolina primary: Trump’s GOP home field advantage is everywhere
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —
Donald Trump trounced Nikki Haley on Saturday in the South Carolina primary, a victory that emphatically punctuated the depth and breadth of his support among Republican primary voters as he vanquished his lone remaining major opponent in her home state.
Trump did not even have to mount a vigorous campaign, making few appearances and spending relatively little money. Haley has vowed to stay in the race and planned to visit Michigan, the site of the next primary, on Sunday. But the loss further eroded the rationale for her candidacy, barring something unforeseen that would derail the former president.
Here are some takeaways from the South Carolina leg of the campaign:
ALL (REPUBLICAN) POLITICS IS NATIONAL
Haley talked up her chances in “my sweet state of South Carolina” for months. Twice elected governor, initially as a tea party candidate in 2010, she was universally known in her state, and mostly for positive reasons. She had even served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. Her conservative record was clear.
And yet her credentials were no match for Trump’s hold on the party.
Trump has now won with ease in the Midwest, the Northeast and the South, bulldozing any regional differences that had existed in the party before his rise.
Haley talked in 2024 about her successes recruiting industry to South Carolina and signing tax cuts and voter ID laws. She promoted her international experience. She excoriated Trump as too risky, too old, too busy fending off indictments, too close to Vladimir Putin and not close enough to NATO allies. Voters were not swayed.
AP VoteCast data reflected her challenge, especially on foreign policy. The survey found that about half of South Carolina primary voters wanted the U.S. to take a less active role in the world, while about 6 out of 10 opposed continuing aid to Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion. They were instead strongly aligned with Trump’s vision.
Everything Haley tried reinforced the dynamics: To most Trump loyalists she sounded like just another politician offering establishment positions and trying to topple their champion.
HALEY STILL HAS NO OBVIOUS OR EVEN LIKELY WINS
Haley repeated that she plans to stick around. The Michigan primary is Feb. 27. Haley already has campaigned there and run advertising. The big prize follows, Super Tuesday on March 5, when about a third of Republicans’ 2,429 total delegates are at stake across primaries and caucuses in 15 states and one territory. Haley’s campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, notes often that many states that follow South Carolina have the same open primary rules. But not all of them. And that didn’t translate into a win at home anyway.
California, a majority-Democratic state, does not have open primaries. So Trump, even in a state where he’s not broadly popular, will be the favorite in a Republicans-only setting. Michigan does have an open primary. But that’s a state where progressives and Arab American voters are pushing voters to cast “uncommitted” ballots as a protest against President Joe Biden’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war. Biden’s campaign is countering. So that gives Democrats their own fight, with no incentive to cross over.
In short, if Haley couldn’t win in South Carolina, her chances of victories ahead are slim.
WHAT REALLY FORCES CANDIDATES TO DROP OUT
Presidential campaigns rarely end directly because of primary losses and delegates counts. They end when a candidate can’t keep the lights on anymore. And sometimes donors keep giving long after the scoreboard says it’s practically over.
Often, that’s the case when there is a real ideological fight within a party — see Bernie Sanders in 2016, when the democratic socialist was the vessel for progressive anger at Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party old guard. This time, for Republicans, it is a blend of personality, identity and ideology. Haley is the stand-in for all Republican check writers who loathe Trump and his version of the GOP.
And it’s these anti-Trump Republicans who keep paying her campaign’s bills. It isn’t about delegates. So when Haley insists she is staying through to Super Tuesday, it’s because she has the resources to do so. At some point, if she doesn’t have a dramatic reversal, those resources will dry up.
But this campaign has a major asterisk. Trump is facing more than 90 criminal charges in multiple jurisdictions, injecting unparalleled uncertainty into the race.
SPEECHES AND SPIN ASIDE, IT’S ABOUT DELEGATES
Haley’s determination aside, the ultimate numbers that matter are not on her fundraising reports. It’s the delegate math. And Trump was on pace to win all 50 delegates in South Carolina, widening his lead and making it increasingly clear that he will reach the 1,215-delegate majority long before the end of the primary calendar in late spring.
VP AUDITION HOUR, FEATURING SEN. TIM SCOTT
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who dropped his own presidential bid in November, enjoyed an extended spotlight in the unofficial contest to become Trump’s running mate. First appointed to the Senate in 2012 by Haley, he was Trump’s most visible surrogate in South Carolina, often heaping praise on a former president who can never seem to get too much validation.
Trump certainly noticed.
“He’s been such a great advocate,” Trump said at a Fox News town hall with Scott beside him. “He has been much better for me than he was for himself. I watched his campaign and he doesn’t like talking about himself, but boy, does he talk about Trump.”
Scott would give Trump loyalty and effective advocacy, without upstaging a former president who is always the headliner. Scott, as the only Black Republican in the Senate, also could appeal to Trump in his quest to increase GOP support from non-white voters.
But Trump has been known to flatter those who fawn over him, then make another choice.
THE BIDEN COALITION DID NOT SAVE HALEY
Haley never explicitly asked Democrats to help her against Trump, but she might as well have. She often reminded South Carolinians, who do not have to register by party, that the primary was open to all voters except the 125,000-plus who already had cast Democratic primary ballots Feb. 3.
She needed some of the remaining South Carolina Democrats, plus independents, to essentially give her a GOP version of the coalition Biden assembled against Trump in 2020. In a South Carolina Republican primary that would mean heavy support from wealthier, more moderate, college-educated white voters, especially around Columbia and Charleston. But Haley also needed at least some backing from Black voters in those areas and across small-town South Carolina.
Trump calls himself a ‘proud political dissident’ in CPAC speech
Quick Read
- Trump’s “Judgment Day” Speech: At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Donald Trump described the upcoming presidential election as “judgment day” and positioned himself as a “proud political dissident.”
- Apocalyptic Vision: Trump portrayed a grim future if Joe Biden is re-elected, promising a “bright new future for America” under his leadership.
- Comparison to Navalny: Trump likened himself to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, emphasizing his role as a challenger to autocratic power.
- South Carolina Victory: Trump’s speech coincided with his win in the South Carolina Republican primary, defeating Nikki Haley in her home state.
- 2024 Campaign Themes: Trump’s speech echoed themes from his previous CPAC appearance, where he promised retribution and portrayed himself as a warrior for his supporters.
- Election Stakes: Trump warned of the country’s destruction under Biden’s leadership, positioning himself as the sole barrier to chaos and ruin.
- Contradictions to Trump’s Claims: Despite Trump’s claims of crime and economic decline, FBI statistics show a decrease in violent crime, and economic data indicates growth and reduced inflation.
- CPAC Echoes Trump’s Attacks: The conference featured speakers supporting Trump’s criticisms of Biden’s policies and the criminal charges against Trump, which are not influenced by Biden according to evidence.
- Biden Campaign Response: The Biden campaign dismissed Trump’s speech, highlighting job losses during his presidency and the impact of Roe v. Wade’s overturning.
- Vice Presidential Hopefuls at CPAC: The event showcased potential Republican vice presidential candidates and international figures supportive of Trump’s agenda.
The Associated Press has the story:
Trump calls himself a ‘proud political dissident’ in CPAC speech
Newslooks- OXON HILL, Md. (AP) —
Former President Donald Trump cast November’s presidential election as “judgment day” and declared himself a “proud political dissident” during a speech before conservative activists outside of Washington Saturday as he again cloaked his campaign in religious imagery.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference ahead of his win in the South Carolina Republican primary, Trump painted an apocalyptic vision of the future if President Joe Biden wins a second term as the two prepare for an expected rematch election.
“For hardworking Americans, Nov. 5 will be our new liberation day. But for the liars and cheaters and fraudsters and censors and imposters who have commandeered our government, it will be judgment day,” he said to loud applause. “When we win, the curtain closes on their corrupt reign and the sun rises on a bright new future for America.”
Trump also cast himself as a “proud political dissident” days after comparing himself to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the top political opponent of Russia’s autocratic leader Vladimir Putin, who died in a remote Arctic prison after being jailed by the Kremlin leader.
“I stand before you today only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident. I am a dissident,” he told the crowd.
Trump was speaking at this year’s CPAC gathering as voters headed to the polls in South Carolina. The former president easily beat his last remaining Republican primary rival, Nikki Haley, in the state where she served as governor for two terms. While Haley has vowed to remain in the race until next month’s “Super Tuesday” — when more than a dozen states will vote — Trump’s campaign is hoping he can reach the delegate threshold to clinch the nomination in March.
Last year, Trump used his speech at CPAC to tell his supporters that his 2024 campaign would be one of “retribution.”
“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,” he said then.
This time, he cast himself as a savior standing between his supporters and near-anarchy as he spoke of “hoards of illegal aliens stampeding across our borders,” warned the country’s social safety net and education system would “buckle and collapse,” and claimed that, “the gangs will be invading your territory.”
“These are the stakes of this election: Our country is being destroyed and the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me,” he declared, casting Biden’s leadership as “an express train barreling toward servitude and to ruin.”
”A vote for Trump is your ticket back to freedom, it’s your passport out of tyranny and it’s your only escape from Joe Biden and his gang’s fast track to hell. And in many ways, we’re living in hell right now,” he said, adding that: “the unprecedented success of the United States of America will be my ultimate and absolute revenge.”
Violent crime is, in fact, down nationwide, according to the most recent FBI statistics. And despite public perception, recent data on the economy has shown that growth accelerated last year while inflation returned closer to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, proving wrong Wall Street and academic economists who had been predicting a recession.
This year’s CPAC conference has featured a parade of Republican lawmakers and MAGA personalities who have echoed Trump’s attacks on Biden’s border policies, his handling of the economy and Trump’s assertion that the 91 felony charges he faces across four separate jurisdictions are nothing more than a baseless attempt by the Biden administration to damage his candidacy. There’s no evidence that Biden influenced the charges in any way.
In response to Trump’s speech, Ammar Moussa, the Biden campaign’s rapid response director, called the former president a “loser.”
“Under his presidency, America lost more jobs than any president in modern history, women in more than 20 states have lost the freedom to make their own health care decisions because Trump overturned Roe, and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party lost their damn minds putting Trump’s quest for power over our democracy,” Moussa said in a statement.
The lineup has featured a handful of Republican vice presidential hopefuls including former candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, as well as foreign leaders like El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, and the president of Argentina, right-wing populist Javier Milei.
Trump exchanges a close hug with Argentine President Javier Milei at conservative summit
Quick Read
- Warm Encounter at CPAC: Javier Milei, Argentina’s right-wing populist president, shared a heartfelt embrace with Donald Trump during the Conservative Political Action Conference, highlighting their camaraderie.
- Milei’s Trump-Inspired Campaign: Milei, who assumed office in December, ran a campaign reminiscent of Trump’s, including “Make Argentina Great Again” hats, aligning with Trump’s “MAGA” movement.
- Foreign Politicians at CPAC: Milei was among several international figures at CPAC who resonated with Trump’s themes, particularly on migration and anti-socialism.
- Milei’s Meetings: Before attending CPAC, Milei met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and was allegedly advised by the U.S. ambassador in Buenos Aires against speaking at the conference.
- Advocacy for Freedom: At CPAC, Milei encouraged the audience to resist socialism, oppose economic regulation, and criticized abortion access, urging attendees to fight for their freedom.
The Associated Press has the story:
Trump exchanges a close hug with Argentine President Javier Milei at conservative summit
Newslooks- OXON HILL, Md. (AP) —
Javier Milei, the fiery, right-wing populist president of Argentina, gave Donald Trump on Saturday an ecstatic hug a day after meeting with Biden administration officials in Buenos Aires.
Trump and Milei were the biggest speakers to wrap up the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington. During their backstage greeting, captured in a video posted by a Trump campaign staffer, Milei shouted “President!” and pulled Trump in for a close hug before they took pictures together.
Milei took office in December after running a campaign inspired by Trump, complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats in a nod to the former president’s own “Make America Great Again” movement. He was the last of several foreign politicians at CPAC to echo popular Trump themes on issues like migration and the perceived threat of socialism.
In the video, Trump tells Milei, “Make Argentina Great Again.” Milei then uttered his famous phrase, “Long live freedom, damn it!”
The Argentine’s appearance at CPAC came a day after he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. A top Milei official alleged that Marc Stanley, the U.S. ambassador in Buenos Aires, had suggested that Milei not speak at CPAC.
Milei’s security minister, Patricia Bullrich, who was also attending the gathering south of Washington, said Stanley told Milei’s office that he thought the conference was “very political” and that it was not appropriate for him to participate.
“It was honorable to come,” Bullrich said. “He comes here as a speaker, to give a general speech, not to talk about the election.”
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment Saturday evening.
Milei urged the CPAC crowd to put a stop to socialism and not to endorse more regulation of the economy. He also called abortion access a “murderous agenda” to decrease the size of the population.
“Do not be led by mermaids singing social justice,” he said in Spanish. “Do not give up your freedom. Fight for your freedom because if you do not fight, you will be led into misery.”
