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CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA —Former U.S. President Donald Trump won South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday, beating former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third straight GOP nomination.
Trump has now swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, with wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The former president's latest victory will likely increase pressure on Haley, who was Trump's representative to the U.N. and South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, to leave the race.
Haley has vowed to stay in the race through at least the primaries on March 5, known as Super Tuesday, but was unable to dent Trump's momentum in her home state despite holding far more campaign events and arguing that the indictments against Trump will hamstring him against U.S. President Joe Biden in the fall.
South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary has historically been a reliable bellwether for Republicans. In all but one primary since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to be the party's nominee. The lone exception was Newt Gingrich in 2012.
Haley said in recent days that she would head straight to Michigan for its Tuesday primary, the last major contest before Super Tuesday. She faces questions about where she might be able to win a contest or be competitive.
Trump and Biden are already behaving like they expect to face off in November.
Trump and his allies argue Biden has made the U.S. weaker and point to the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Trump has also repeatedly attacked Biden over high inflation earlier in the president's term and his handling of record-high migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump has questioned - often in harshly personal terms - whether the 81-year-old Biden is too old to serve a second term. Biden's team in turn has highlighted the 77-year-old Trump's own flubs on the campaign trail.
Biden has stepped up his recent fundraising trips around the country and increasingly attacked Trump directly. He's called Trump and his "Make America Great Again" movement dire threats to the nation's founding principles, and the president's reelection campaign has lately focused most of its attention on Trump, suggesting he'd use the first day of a second presidency as a dictator and that he'd tell Russia to attack NATO allies who fail to keep up with defense spending obligations mandated by the alliance.
Haley also criticized Trump on his NATO comments and also for questioning why her husband wasn't on the campaign trail with her - even as former first lady Melania Trump hasn't appeared with him. Major Michael Haley is deployed in the Horn of Africa on a mission with the South Carolina Army National Guard.
But South Carolina's Republican voters line up with Trump on having lukewarm feelings about NATO and continued U.S. support for Ukraine, according to AP VoteCast data from Saturday's primary. About 6 in 10 oppose continuing aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Only about a third described America's participation in NATO as "very good," with more saying it's only "somewhat good."
Haley has raised copious amounts of campaign money and is scheduled to begin a cross-country campaign swing on Sunday in Michigan ahead of Super Tuesday on March 5, when many delegate-rich states hold primaries.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham complimented Haley while speaking to reporters at Trump's election night party in Columbia but suggested it was time for her to drop out.
"I think the sooner she does, the better for her, the better for the party," Graham said.
Biden won South Carolina's Democratic primary earlier this month and faces only one remaining challenger, Dean Phillips. The Minnesota Democratic congressman has continued to campaign in Michigan ahead of the Democratic primary there, despite having little chance of actually beating Biden.
Though Biden is expected to cruise to his party's renomination, he faces criticism from some Democrats for providing military backing to Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The war could hurt the president's general election chances in swing states such as Michigan, which is home to a large Arab American population.