President Joe Biden and his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, romped through more than a dozen states on Super Tuesday, all but cementing a November rematch and pushing the former president’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, out of the Republican race.
Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep, but the former president carried other states that might have been favorable to her, such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.
TRUMP: “They call it Super Tuesday for a reason. This was a big one!” pic.twitter.com/RBybBZlcQs
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 6, 2024
Hours after the last polls closed in Alaska, Haley scheduled a 10 a.m. speech in her home state of South Carolina to announce suspending her campaign. Three people with direct knowledge who spoke on the suspension because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly confirmed Haley’s decision before her announcement.
Not enough states will have voted until later this month for Trump or Biden to become their parties’ presumptive nominees formally. But on the primary’s biggest day, they made their rematch a near-certainty. Both 81-year-old Biden and 77-year-old Trump continue to dominate their parties.
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, meanwhile, was packed for a victory party. Among those attending were staff and supporters, including the rapper Forgiato Blow and former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn. The crowd erupted as Fox News, playing on screens around the ballroom, announced that the former president had won North Carolina’s GOP primary.
Biden didn’t give a speech but instead issued a statement warning that Tuesday’s results had left Americans with a clear choice and touting his accomplishments after beating Trump.
“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk. He is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his revenge and retribution, not the American people,” Biden said.
In the final days before Tuesday, they demonstrated the unique nature of this year’s campaign. Rather than barnstorming the states holding primaries, Biden and Trump held rival events last week along the U.S.-Mexico border, each seeking to gain an advantage in the increasingly fraught immigration debate.
