Trump Defeats Haley in South Carolina

 

Donald Trump's big primary victory on Saturday over Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina ‘was the result of aruthlessand met- hodical campaign to eliminate her as a threat, according to aides and ‘people close to both campaigns. Despite having already secured a string of primary victories, it was. crucial for Trump to win South Carolina, a key early Republican primary state that often predicts the party's nominee. Unlike in 2016, Trump was facing rival who had won two terms as governor of the. state and is still locally popular: ‘The plan was to isolate Haley poli- tic ally by locking down endorse- ments from scores of officials in the state as quickly as possible to demonstrate publicly that she had 1o path to the presidency through South Carolina, aides with know- ledge of the Trump campaign plan said. Trump's victory on Saturday was nota complete blowout but he still defeated her by a comfortable 20 percentage points on her home turf. "We were facing a two-term governor: That necessitated a show of force. We needed endorsements to stop donors and voters taking a Io- ok at Nikki," a senior Trump campaign adviser told Reuters on condition of anonymity Chris Laci Vita, a comanager of Trump’s campaign, said the series of big name endorsements played a critical role in snuffing out the competition in the state. Reuters