OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump appears to be on a glide path to the 2024 Republican nomination after steamrolling his last serious competitor, Nikki Haley, in her home state of South Carolina during Saturday’s primary, and he’s acting the role.
Trump defeated Haley with nearly 60 percent of the vote to her nearly 40 percent after 99 percent of the votes cast had been counted, Fox News reported.
Following his victory, Trump told the outlet that he’s not sure Haley is “even really in the race” at this point, adding he is now hyper-focused on beating President Joe Biden in the fall.
“I was honored that I received the largest vote in the history of the state — I’m with Senator Lindsey Graham right now, and he just told me we received the largest vote by double — we beat the last record,” Trump told the network. “So that’s a great compliment to all of the people and to making America great again.”
Asked if he thought Haley should now drop out of the race, Trump said he’s “really not thinking about that… I’m not thinking about it.”
“I’m really thinking about we have to beat Joe Biden,” told the outlet. “I don’t know if she’s in the race at all because, you know, I have set records in every single state. I’m not sure that she’s really in the race.”
Trump secured another 44 delegates ahead of the RNC’s nominating convention this summer, CNN reported.
DONALD J. TRUMP: “I was just informed that we got double the number of votes that has ever been received in the great state of South Carolina.”
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) February 25, 2024
Before Saturday’s primary, Trump dominated other primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“I’m very honored by the elections,” he said. “We’re setting records in every single state.”
Haley, meanwhile, announced after her loss that she would remain in the race.
In an interview Friday evening with Fox News host Bret Baier about her reasons for staying in the race and if she would consider being Trump’s vice president, she was emphatic in her answer.
“Where can you paint a picture on Super Tuesday where you can get a victory?” Baier asked
“We’re gonna see what happens tomorrow. But look, the problem when people say, “Why is she doing this? Why is she doing that?” At first, they were like, ‘She’s doing this because she wants to be vice president.’ I think we’ve pretty much settled that. Then they’re saying–“ Haley responded before Baier interrupted.
“Have we settled it?” he said.
“There is no political motivation. If there were political motivation, I would have gotten out of this a long time ago,” Haley said.
“By the way, have we settled the vice president thing?” the anchor asked.
“Of course, we’ve settled it! I mean, there is in no way,” Haley emphasized.
“So, it’s done?” Baier pressed.
“I’ve said it for months; it’s done,” the former UN ambassador under Trump clarified. “Also, looking at a political future – I wouldn’t be doing this if I was worried about a political future. I would’ve gotten out already. I’m doing this trying to wake up our country.”
A series of surveys in three battleground states show that Trump is widening his lead over Biden, with the election less than ten months away.
Emerson College’s initial poll looked at the Trump and Biden presidential contest in Georgia. It revealed Trump leading Biden by six points, with 48 percent of the respondents supporting Trump compared to Biden’s 42 percent. Additionally, 11 percent of respondents remained undecided.
The survey, conducted from February 14-16, 2024, among 1,000 registered voters, also indicated that Biden had a slight edge over Trump among independents, with 44 percent supporting Biden and 39 percent supporting Trump, though 18 percent remained undecided.
A second Emerson College survey taken on the same dates showed Trump leading Biden by 3 points in North Carolina, 47-44 percent, though 10 percent are undecided.
Trump’s lead over Biden widens when third-party candidates are taken into account. In this scenario, Trump leads with 46 percent support compared to Biden’s 37 percent. Additionally, five percent of the support goes to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while one percent each goes to Cornel West and Jill Stein.
