South Carolina primary 2024: Trump projected to win, Haley vows to stay in the race
What can we take away from Trump's big Palmetto State victory?
Former President Donald Trump has won the South Carolina Republican primary, ABC News projects. It was a swift and embarrassing defeat for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who rose to political prominence as South Carolina’s governor. Nevertheless, in her concession speech, Haley vowed to continue her campaign into Super Tuesday on March 5.
Throughout the evening, 538 reporters, analysts and contributors broke down the results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.
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Answer: He’s not not doing well
For a non-incumbent (if former president), Trump has made short work of the primary calendar, basically annihilating any real competitors in record time without ever having to deign to step foot on a debate stage. The fact that he didn’t completely cruise to the nomination captures some of the hesitancy in the party that Julia highlighted, but at the end of the day, all Trump needs to do now is be more popular than Biden, who isn’t exactly the Prom King these days.
—Kaleigh Rogers, 538
Answer: Expectations are hard to benchmark
I'm honestly not sure there is a clear way to go about establishing what Trump "should" be winning, Mary. On the one hand, polls had him at 61 percent, so 60 percent of the vote (as of now) is pretty good — especially if you consider he'll win the nomination easily by mid-March if this is the case.
Another benchmark would be the percent of the GOP electorate that calls themselves "part of the MAGA movement." According to preliminary ABC exit polls, that's about 44 percent of SC voters (50 percent said no and 6 percent were unsure). So by this benchmark, Trump is actually overperforming.
Too bad there aren't a whole lot of modern examples of former presidents + failed presidential candidates running in subsequent primaries, or else we could try to establish historical baselines. Trump's performance right now is somewhere between George H.W. Bush vs. Pat Buchanan and Jimmy Carter vs. Ted Kennedy. Both of those incumbents lost in the general.
—G. Elliott Morris, 538
Answer: I'm wishy-washy on this point
I'm on the fence. As I pointed out, this would be panic-time for a sitting president running for reelection — evidence of a significant rift in the party. And it's not a mystery what that rift is — people in the Republican party who have reservations about Jan. 6, Trump's electability or his presidential temperament. At the same time, he has majority support in most polls, far outpacing any rivals.
—Julia Azari, 538 contributor
Question: Is Trump actually doing well?
The first few primaries to me don’t seem to suggest the kind of strength that I would expect from a universally known, pretty well-liked (within his party) former president. So, is Trump doing well in this race, or is he just doing better than Haley? And does that mean anything for November?
—Mary Radcliffe, 538