Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says it’s not “the end of our story” despite Donald Trump’s easy primary victory in South Carolina, her home state. Defying calls from Republicans to exit the race, Haley planned to travel Sunday to Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday. “I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden,” she told supporters Saturday night.”Nearly every day, Trump drives people away.”
Despite Trump’s victory in South Carolina, there were some red flags for him in his likely general election rematch with Biden in Nov, when independent and moderate voters will play a crucial role in determining the winner. Among self-described independent South Carolina voters, 6 out of 10 chose Haley, as per exit poll by Edison Research, which also showed her getting a slim majority of the white college-educated vote.
Republican strategist Chip Felkel, who is critical of Trump, pointed to the fact that Haley garnered 40% of the votes, to Trump’s 60%, a narrower margin of win for Trump than many had predicted. Referring to Nov elections, Felkel said he still expected Trump to be the nominee, but said there were warning signs. “If the basis of the vote was mostly Republican, or independent, and he’s not getting four out of 10 of those, I’d say Biden could use that,” he said.