Donald Trump surged closer to a rematch with Joe Biden in November as he trounced Nikki Haley, his final rival for the Republican nomination, on Super Tuesday.
The former president, 77, dominated the biggest day of the primaries, winning 10 states by 9.30pm, and leaving the ex-South Carolina governor’s White House dreams hanging by a thread.
Trump quickly scored overwhelming victories in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maine, Alabama, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Texas, and Colorado.
Haley is still clinging to a glimmer of hope in Vermont, where she is neck and neck with Trump with about half the votes counted.
She did not come close in the rest as Trump, the runaway Republican frontrunner, moved on full-steam to the November general election.
The Super Tuesday results cemented his absolute control of the Republican Party and sparked growing calls for Haley to exit the race.
Guests at Mar-a-Lago watch election results as they wait for Donald Trump to speak
Biden is racking up wins on the Democratic side as polls close across the nation. He faces only token opposition for his party’s presidential nomination.
And Trump’s series of victories on Tuesday night will make it nearly mathmatically impossible for Haley to catch the former president.
Tuesday’s contests will award more than one-third of Republican delegates – and more than 70% of the number needed to secure the nomination.
Haley pledged stay in the race until the Super Tuesday contests but has not made any promises beyond that, and her campaign has not scheduled any public events on Tuesday or beyond.
She is at her home in South Carolina and not scheduled to make public remarks. Trump is expected to address supporters later Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago.
Biden will be updated on election results throughout the night by his staff, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Both the Biden and Trump camps have been preparing for a rematch even though the earliest either can become his party´s presumptive nominee is March 12 for Trump and March 19 for Biden.
But, after Tuesday, the general election battle will be effectively underway. Both men are ready.
‘We have to beat Biden – he is the worst president in history,’ Trump said Tuesday on Fox & Friends.
‘If we lose this election, you´re going to be back with Donald Trump,’ Biden said on the DeDe in the Morning radio show in North Carolina. ‘The way he talks about, the way he acted, the way he has dealt with the African American community, I think, has been shameful.’
Donald Trump (left) is hoping for a big victory sweep on Super Tuesday that will knock Nikki Haley (right) out of the contest
A voter enters a polling place to cast their ballot in Mountain Brook, Alabama
Voters, however, do not seem enthusiastic about repeating the 2020 election, which Biden won and Trump falsely claimed victory. Polls show a majority of voters wanted an option other than Biden or Trump.
So now each campaign will have to focus on rallying their base and persuading independent voters to come to the polls in November.
And the candidates will hit the trail to make their case to the American people.
On Saturday, Biden and Trump will hold separate campaign events in Georgia, a critical battleground state. They are not expected to interact.
Biden became the first Democratic since Bill Clinton to win Georgia in 2020. Trump was convinced he had won it and now faces federal and state charges on his attempts to overturn results there.
