– Donald Trump barreled to victory in South Carolina’s Republican primary Saturday, deepening his hold on the GOP presidential field as the race moved into the South. “Let’s put this thing away”, he shouted to cheering supporters.
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“People (pundits) gave me no chance in SC”.
Bush tells reporters outside a polling location in Greenville that “to be able to beat expectations would be helpful”.
Jeb Bush, who seemed headed for a single-digit finish in the Palmetto State, announced he would suspend his presidential campaign.
Trump’s victory comes after a week in which he threatened to sue one rival, accused former President George W. Bush of lying about the Iraq war and even tussled with Pope Francis on immigration. Though the race has six candidates, it’s honestly down to three: Donald Trump, and Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. His reply was met with laughs from supporters, including South Carolina Republican Sen.
Jeb Bush, the son of former President George HW Bush and brother to former President George W Bush, failed to translate huge funds and Republican donations into votes.
Bush, meanwhile, offered himself as an experienced public executive and potential world statesman informed in part by his father’s and brother’s wartime presidencies. And before tonight’s embarrassing defeat, he finished in sixth place in Iowa and in fourth in New Hampshire. Ted Cruz said, adding that Bush “ran a campaign based on ideas, based on policy, based on substance, a man who didn’t go to the gutter and engage in insults and attacks”. But Bush has competition on that front, chiefly from Marco Rubio and John Kasich.
In fact, Kasich has already turned his attention to delegate-rich Super Tuesday states which will vote on March 1, and will be in MA watching results tonight, not SC. Senator Bernie Sanders, though ideologically different from Paul, represents the same anti-establishment sentiment that could burn Clinton come the general election.
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While the billionaire businessman scored a decisive win in New Hampshire, his second-place finish in Iowa to Cruz illustrated gaps in his less-than-robust ground operation, and questions remain about the extent to which he can translate leads in preference polls and large rally crowds into votes.
