As of: February 25, 2024, 4:50 a.m
By: Felix Busjaeger
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Test before the US primary election in South Carolina: Nikki Haley wants to win against Donald Trump.
But the ex-president is leading – and shooting against his competitor.
Update from February 24th, 11 p.m.:
The US Republicans continued the primary elections to select their presidential candidate in the state of South Carolina on Saturday.
The clear favorite here is former President Donald Trump, who has already won the previous primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada and has left his rival Nikki Haley far behind.
Haley also lagged far behind in the polls in her home state of South Carolina, despite serving as governor there from 2011 to 2017.
Voting began at 7 a.m. local time (1 p.m. CET).
The first results are expected around 1 a.m. (CET).
Trump was confident of victory on the eve of the election.
"Tomorrow you're going to cast one of the most important votes of your life, and frankly we're not too worried about tomorrow," he said at a campaign rally in the town of Rock Hill.
Haley to the Democrats?
Before the South Carolina primary, Trump launches an attack
First report from February 24th:
Columbia - Nikki Haley is in a difficult situation these days: Left behind in the race for the role of the Republicans' top candidate in the 2024 US election, Donald Trump's competitor wants this in the US primaries in her home state of South Carolina Turn the page.
But it's not just her own popularity that stands in her way, but also the former US President.
Shortly before the election date, he attacks Haley and makes a crude suggestion.
“You know, Haley is supported and funded by the Democrats,” Trump said during a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, adding that his Republican rival for the presidential nomination should “switch” to the Democratic Party.
“Republicans don’t support them, they don’t like them and they don’t like their policies.
She is essentially a Democrat,” the former US president added.
“I think she should probably switch parties.”
Nikki Haley wants to score against Donald Trump in the US Republican primary in South Carolina.
He throws a verbal punch.
© Mic Smith/AP/dpa
After Donald Trump's victories in the US primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, Haley will have another duel with the ex-president on Saturday, February 24th for her party's nomination for the 2024 US election on February 5th November.
South Carolina is the first southern state in line for the Republicans.
Compared to the previous votes, Haley is not that far behind - in nationwide surveys, she is currently separated from Trump by around 60 percentage points, as the
German Press Agency
reports.
Observers are currently assuming that Trump's competitor can hardly hope for success in South Carolina - the polls are clearly against her.
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US primary election in South Carolina: Trump leads against Haley – ex-president has “cult following”
Before the US primary election in South Carolina, it is clear to many: In addition to Donald Trump, there is little room for an applicant like Nikki Haley, who is considered to be more politically moderate and rhetorically much more moderate.
However, a true “cult community” has formed around the former US president, who recently attracted attention because of NATO statements or questionable comparisons with Alexei Navalny, which is made up of right-wing nationalists, among others.
Trump was able to achieve success in the election campaign on issues such as the US economy and security at the border.
Haley sometimes addresses similar topics at campaign events - but remains less blustering than Donald Trump.
Added to this: a concern for decency and the social structure.
Haley wants to win in South Carolina primary: Trump questions Democratic donations
Donald Trump's latest comments about his rival Nikki Haley, just one day before the US primary election in South Carolina, could be an attempt to further damage the ailing Republican and expand his own lead in favor of voters.
As
Newsweek
writes, the former US president is taking advantage of the fact that Haley's supporters do not exclusively come from the Republican camp.
A
Politico
report revealed that Haley's campaign also received donations from groups that supported Joe Biden in the last US election.
“Nikki Haley relies on Democrats and liberals...crazy.
It’s called the crazy world of politics,” Donald Trump rumbled at the rally.
The fact that Trump himself did not identify entirely as a Republican in the past has not been forgotten by the competition.
Newsweek
writes that Trump's own political loyalties fluctuated between both camps before he launched his first presidential campaign in 2016.
Trump was even a registered Democrat for several years.
"In many cases I probably identify more as a Democrat," Trump said in a 2004 interview with
CNN
's Wolf Blitzer .
“It just seems like the economy is doing better under Democrats than under Republicans.”
Last chance before Super Tuesday: Haley's success in the US primary in South Carolina is of great importance
The South Carolina Republican primary is Haley's last chance to score a win against Donald Trump before Super Tuesday on March 5.
Her election campaign could possibly be coming to an end on Saturday.
"If it falls below 40 percent, I don't see any real reason to move forward other than wait and hope that Trump's legal troubles overtake him," Danielle Vinson, a professor at Furman University, told
Newsweek
.
Trump's competitor continued to be combative in the week before the election in South Carolina.
She was “a long way from giving up,” Haley said in a speech in her home state on Tuesday.
“Getting out would be the easy way.
I never took the easy route.
In every race I've ever won, I've been the underdog." While she has always lost to Donald Trump in the previous Republican primaries, Haley tries to put the results into perspective.
“Only three states voted, three,” she said at the event.
“The presidential primaries have just begun.” (fbu/dpa)