Former President Donald Trump Wins South Carolina Republican Primary, Moves Closer to GOP Nomination

The South Carolina Republican Primary on February 24, 2024, saw former President Donald Trump emerge as the winner, according to the Fox News Decision Desk. Trump’s victory in the Palmetto State marked another significant step towards clinching the 2024 Republican nomination.

Trump’s win in South Carolina followed his victories in the Iowa caucus, New Hampshire primary, Nevada caucus, and the U.S. Virgin Islands caucus. The former president’s rapid success in the primary race has left his opponents struggling to keep up.

At his final pre-primary rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Trump predicted a “gigantic victory” in the state. The massive crowd at the event numbered roughly 5,000 supporters, reflecting the strong support Trump enjoys among Republican voters.

Trump’s campaign had already amassed a significant lead in delegates, with three times as many delegates as his closest rival, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. The Fox News Decision Desk projected that Trump could win up to 50 more delegates in South Carolina.

Despite Haley’s home-state advantage, she was unable to convert it into a win. Trump’s campaign had earlier predicted an “ass-kicking in the making” for Haley, and that “the end is near” for her presidential run due to a “serious math problem” she faced in securing enough delegates to win the nomination.

Haley, however, remained defiant and refused to quit the race. She addressed calls for her to drop out in a major speech minutes after the release of the Trump campaign memo. Haley emphasized that she would take the bruises, cuts, and hurt because she believed that nothing good comes easy and that sometimes pain is necessary to appreciate the blessing.

Haley also turned up the volume in her verbal attacks on Trump, criticizing his legal entanglements, controversial comments on NATO, the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and Trump’s mocking of her husband, who is overseas on a military tour of duty.

Trump’s groundswell in South Carolina and his ground forces were highlighted by veteran South Carolina-based Republican consultant Dave Wilson. Wilson noted that Haley was reintroducing herself to South Carolina because almost a million people had moved into the state since she was governor.

South Carolina holds open primaries, which means that Republicans, independents, and even Democrats could vote in the GOP presidential nominating contest, as long as they did not cast a ballot in the February 3 Democratic presidential primary. Independents had helped fuel Haley’s 43% showing in New Hampshire, but they were much less of a factor in South Carolina’s more conservative electorate, where evangelical voters enjoyed prominence in GOP contests.

Regardless of the results in South Carolina, Haley pledged to stay in the Republican presidential nomination race at least through March 5, when 15 states held contests on Super Tuesday. She announced that her campaign was going up with a multi-million dollar national cable ad blitz ahead of Super Tuesday.

Nearly 800 delegates were up for grabs on Super Tuesday, with over 150 at stake over the following two weeks. Among the states holding contests on Super Tuesday were delegate-rich California and Texas, and other big states like Florida, Illinois, and Ohio held winner-take-all primaries on March 19. Polling in many of those states indicated Trump holding large leads over Haley.

The Trump campaign predicted that they would secure the nomination on March 19, even under a “most-generous model” for Haley. Haley responded that she would see what happened if Trump clinched the nomination next month.

In conclusion, the South Carolina Republican Primary on February 24, 2024, saw former President Donald Trump emerge as the winner, moving closer to clinching the 2024 Republican nomination. Trump’s victory in the Palmetto State followed his successes in the Iowa caucus, New Hampshire primary, Nevada caucus, and the U.S. Virgin Islands caucus. Despite Haley’s home-state advantage, she was unable to convert it into a win, and Trump’s groundswell in South Carolina and his ground forces were significant factors in his victory. Regardless of the results in South Carolina, Haley pledged to stay in the Republican presidential nomination race at least through March 5, when 15 states held contests on Super Tuesday. The race for the nomination was expected to intensify in the coming weeks, with nearly 800 delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday and other big states holding winner-take-all primaries.