Former United States President Donald Trump has won the Republican primary in the state of South Carolina, according to projections from media such as CNN, thus taking away almost all the chances of winning from his main opponent Nikki Haley, who had hopes for an eventual victory in her home state.

With this victory, Trump takes the 29 delegates he could win and the remaining 21 delegates They will be awarded based on the results of the congressional districts, with three delegates corresponding to the winner in each of the state’s seven districts. So far, in the primaries held in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada and in the territory of the Virgin Islands, Haley has won 17 delegates and Trump 92. 1,215 delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination.

The former president has already gone out to celebrate his victory and, in a speech reported by CNN, he has assured that the projected results represent “an even greater victory” than was anticipated. “There has never been a spirit like this,” Trump said as he addressed a cheering crowd at his election night watch party in Columbia, adding that he had “never seen the Republican Party as unified as it is now.” “. “This was a little sooner than we expected and an even bigger victory than we expected,” he concluded.

Trump cements his victory for the Republican presidency

South Carolina Republican presidential primary are seen as the most important contest of the season, since, since 1980, the only Republican who has managed to become president of the party without winning in this state was Mitt Romney in 2012, so this victory puts Trump on an almost certain path to achieving his goal.

On the other hand, according to data collected by CNN, There is no other example in the last 40 years of a presidential primary in which a candidate has overcome the deficit that Haley has reached in her home state, which means the second warning sign for the candidate. Since the modern primary era began in 1972, no major party candidate has lost their home state during the primary season.

Haley refuses to leave the primaries

Republican candidate Nikki Haley has assured that she plans to continue in the party’s presidential race against Donald Trump despite the severe defeat. “I am a woman of my word. “I am not going to abandon this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” he told his followers at a party that was called to celebrate his expected victory.

He added that he feels an “obligation” to give voters who will hold primaries in the next states an option other than Biden/Trump. “In the next ten days, 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to have real options, not a Soviet-style election with a single candidate. And it is my obligation to give them that option,” he concluded. That is, Haley keeps his promise – which he made a few days ago – to hold out in the race until what is known as Super Tuesday, when 16 states elect the Republican candidate and thus leave the die cast.