Former US Presidential hopeful and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump (center) gestures at an "Election Night Watch Party" in Columbia, South Carolina, on Feb 24, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)
WASHINGTON - Former US president Donald Trump has defeated former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary, multiple US media organizations projected Saturday night.
The Associated Press, ABC News, NBC News and Fox News made the projections just a few minutes after polls closed in the southeastern US state at 7 pm local time.
The defeat delivered a crushing blow to Haley, who was born in the state and served as governor from 2011 to 2017. In previous Republican primaries, Trump beat Haley in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada
The defeat delivered a crushing blow to Haley, who was born in the state and served as governor from 2011 to 2017. In previous Republican primaries, Trump beat Haley in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Trump said he has "never seen the Republican party so unified as it is right now" after he became the projected winner in the South Carolina primary, noting that the night's projected results are "an even bigger win than we anticipated."
A growing number of Republican figures have urged Haley to drop out so that they could focus on the fight against the Democratic Party. In a speech Saturday night, Haley has vowed to continue her 2024 presidential campaign beyond Saturday's contest.
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In her speech titled "The Fight Goes On," Haley said that she is not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Trump and President Joe Biden, accusing them both of dividing the country.
"I'm grateful that today is not the end of our story. We're headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we're headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week," she said.
Super Tuesday, which falls on March 5 this year, is when voters in 15 states and one territory will cast their ballots.
Haley's campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, said on Saturday that the campaign intends to allocate a significant portion of resources to Super Tuesday states.
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Overall, nearly four in 10 South Carolina Republican primary voters called immigration their top voting issue, with about one-third picking the economy and fewer citing foreign policy or abortion, according to an exit poll by CNN.
Nearly nine in 10 said that they're unhappy with the way things are going in the country, and more than four in 10 said that they're angry about the state of things, the poll showed.
