Trump declared winner of South Carolina primary, beating Nikki Haley in her home state

CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Donald Trump wins South Carolina’s Republican primary, beating former UN ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third straight GOP nomination.

Trump has now swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, with wins already in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the US Virgin Islands. The former US president’s latest victory will likely increase pressure on Haley, who was Trump’s former representative to the UN and South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, to leave the race.

A 2020 general rematch between Trump and US President Joe Biden is becoming increasingly inevitable. Haley has vowed to stay in the race through at least the batch of primaries on March 5, known as Super Tuesday, but was unable to dent Trump’s momentum in her home state despite holding far more campaign events and arguing that the indictments against Trump will hamstring him against Biden.

South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary has historically been a reliable bellwether for Republicans. In all but one primary since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to be the party’s nominee. The lone exception was Newt Gingrich in 2012.

Haley said in recent days that she would head straight to Michigan for its Tuesday primary, the last major contest before Super Tuesday. She faces questions about where she might be able to win a contest or be competitive.