Everything happened really fast. Polling stations in South Carolina had just closed at 7 p.m. on Saturday February 24, when American television channels were already announcing a new victory for Donald Trump in the Republican primaries.
Shortly after, the winner appeared in front of his supporters and the cameras, to celebrate a result drawn by all the polls for weeks. He didn’t even mention the name of his rival, Nikki Haley. This was trailed by around 22%, while 83% of the votes were counted. After Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, the former president achieved a spectacular quadruplet, confirming his overwhelming domination within the Republican base.
Before the primaries began, Nikki Haley seemed to believe in a possible favorable alignment of planets during these early stages. It didn’t happen. She takes blow after blow, while the Trumpist camp multiplies calls for an early end to the competition, to devote itself to the duel with Joe Biden. Nikki Haley refuses to give in, despite this disappointment in the state of which she was governor (2011-2017). “I am not giving up this fight while a majority of Americans condemn both Donald Trump and Joe Biden”, she explained. After politely congratulating the winner, she repeated one of her main arguments against him: “I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden. Almost every day, Trump pushes people away, like his comments just yesterday. » During a meeting in Columbia on Friday, the ex-president welcomed the support of black voters, with whom he would have one thing in common: that of being a victim of discrimination, due to the judicial treatment towards him.
Nikki Haley delivered a classic combat speech, refusing the inevitable outcome of these Republican primaries. She did not provide any other explanation for the continuation of her effort than the activists’ right to a real choice. In reality, the candidate knows that a turnaround in the polls is impossible. But she makes other bets. First of all, that of a judicial short circuit in the political momentum of Donald Trump, in the event of a criminal conviction, in the coming months. Then, she wants to appear as the ultimate rival and alternative to the ex-president, for the future.
On February 20, four days before the vote in South Carolina, Nikki Haley gave a solemn speech on “state of the race”. The candidate redoubled her vigor against Donald Trump and confirmed that she would not give up, whatever the result in her state. Using the biblical metaphor, she explained that “Like David, I don’t just fight against someone bigger than me. I’m fighting for something bigger than myself. »
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