Trump and Clinton both also delivered virulent attacks on each other after their wins, with Trump calling the former secretary of state a “Washington insider” who would not achieve the change desired by the electorate, and Clinton criticizing the “low rhetoric” coming from the other side in a likely reference to Trump’s outspokenness. Bernie Sanders took Vermont, his home state, Oklahoma, and Minnesota.
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The New Jersey governor stood behind Donald Trump during the NY businessman’s press conference in Florida, and it seemed all social media could talk about were his facial expressions.
At his own speech in Florida, Trump reacted to Clinton’s speech. “I want to congratulate Ted on the winning of Texas, he worked hard on it”, Trump said.
His second-place finish in Alaska notwithstanding, Donald Trump had a very super Tuesday. Also, statewide delegates only go to candidates who get at least 20% of the vote, which means either Cruz or Rubio could be on the borderline.
Trump’s rival Ted Cruz, a USA senator from Texas, won his home state and neighboring Oklahoma, bolstering his argument he had the best chance to stop the controversial Trump.
Counting superdelegates, Clinton now has 544 total delegates, compared to 85 for Sanders.
No one candidate emerged on Tuesday as Mr Trump’s top challenger. The Vermont senator did carry his home state decisively, and told the crowd at a raucous victory party that he was “so proud to bring Vermont values all across this country”.
Sanders remained determined to stay in the race, but he was more than 600 delegates he had won behind Clinton.
Mr Sanders won’t concede any time soon but unlike the Republicans, the competitive portion of the Democratic race is probably approaching an end.
Trump and the other Republican candidates “are now running their campaigns based on insults”. That’s well ahead of Cruz’s 149, Rubio’s 82, John Kasich’s 25 and Ben Carson’s 8.
The win gains Trump around 200 delegates, fewer than he was expected to gain. A total of 865 delegates are up for grabs in the Democratic race on Super Tuesday.
Marco Rubio, who has been struggling to convince mainstream Republicans that they should support him, pulled out a win in Minnesota but had a lackluster night overall.
Sanders stressed that Democratic primaries are proportional, and award delegates according to the vote count.
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Trump has anxious many in the Republican establishment with proposals such as building a wall along the US southern border with Mexico, deporting 11 million illegal immigrants and slapping a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.
