By [ad_1]
WASHINGTON – Nikki Haley defeated Donald Trump in Sunday’s Republican main in Washington, D.C., her first win in what stays an uphill battle to in some way overtake the previous president for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Haley, the previous governor of South Carolina, claimed all 19 conference delegates and carried greater than 62% of the vote among the many small pool of DC Republicans who participated within the three-day main. She now takes her problem to Trump to greater than a dozen primaries being held on “Super Tuesday” — Trump is favored to win these contests, however the stunning lead to Washington may augur higher days for her marketing campaign.
“Let’s do it,” Haley stated on the social media platform X, previously Twitter. “Thanks, DC! We struggle for each inch.”
In one other put up, Haley stated that “Republicans closest to Washington’s dysfunction know that Donald Trump has introduced nothing however chaos and division for the previous 8 years. It is time to begin successful once more and transfer our nation ahead!”
Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas stated: “It’s not stunning that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos.” She added that the victory “makes Nikki Haley the primary lady to win a Republican main in U.S. historical past.”
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
On his Fact Social web site, Trump stated he “purposely stayed away from the D.C. Vote as a result of it’s the ‘Swamp,'” and inconsequential. “The actually massive numbers will come on Tremendous Tuesday,” Trump stated.
The Trump marketing campaign earlier mocked Haley’s victory in Washington, D.C., which they once more referred to as a “swamp” of political vice.
“Whereas Nikki has been soundly rejected all through the remainder of America, she was simply topped Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that need to shield the failed establishment,” stated a press release from Trump marketing campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt, including: “The swamp has claimed their queen.”
Approaching Tremendous Tuesday
The Republican footprint in Washington, D.C., could be very small. Just a bit greater than 2,000 folks voted within the GOP main in a metropolis with a inhabitants of almost 680,000.
Trump had defeated Haley in earlier contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and her home state of South Carolina.
Republican strategist Doug Heye stated Trump backers can complain about “the swamp” all they need, “however an entire lot of people that labored for Trump – who know him and his administration finest – rejected him.”
D.C. Republicans ship solely 19 of two,429 delegates to their nationwide conference from July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee.
Trump started the day with 244 delegates to Haley’s 24, based on the Associated Press. The previous president wants 1,215 delegates to clinch the nomination, and 845 delegates will probably be accessible on Tremendous Tuesday.
Whereas the Republican presence in Washington, D.C., could be very small, the caucuses drew some consideration due to alleged threats by the Trump marketing campaign to a selected group of voters: Lobbyists.
Politico reported that Trump officers warned lobbyists that “in the event that they don’t vote on this Sunday’s main, they received’t get entry ought to the previous president find yourself again within the White Home.”
Haley, whose donors have been threatened with ostracism by the Trump machine, protested the heavy-handed tactics a day earlier than her victory within the nation’s capital.
This election “is about candidates wanting folks to return into their fold, not threatening them, not pushing them out of their membership,” Haley advised reporters Saturday. “Is that what we wish as a pacesetter? Nearly all of these folks will inform you no, they’re finished with that.”
