Former President Donald Trump won the Michigan Republican primary on Tuesday over rival Nikki Haley.
The race was called at exactly 9 p.m., when all Michigan polls were closed, with Trump leading Haley 65 percent to 30.9 percent, with 12 percent reporting.
Haley’s campaign said Tuesday night that Trump’s victory by more than 30 points still represented weakness heading into the general election.
‘Joe Biden is losing about 20 percent of the Democratic vote today, and many say it’s a sign of his weakness in November. Donald Trump is losing about 35 percent of the vote. “That’s a warning sign for Trump in November,” Haley spokeswoman Olivia Pérez-Cubas said in a statement.
President Joe Biden lost “uncommitted” votes in Michigan over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas, and the state’s Arab American communities were shocked by the high death toll among Palestinian civilians.
The “uncommitted” vote was around 15 percent.
Former President Donald Trump held a campaign event in Michigan on February 17. After winning the South Carolina primary on Saturday, he stayed off the campaign trail but has planned visits to Super Tuesday states Texas, North Carolina and Virginia in the coming days.
The former UN ambassador. Nikki Haley made a campaign stop Monday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before heading to Minnesota and Colorado, which are Super Tuesday states. In Grand Rapids, she complained that Trump was trying to make the RNC his personal ‘playpen.’
‘Since Trump became president in 2016, Michigan Republicans have lost the House of Representatives, the state Senate and the Governor’s Mansion. Once a beacon for the conservative cause, the Michigan Republican Party is now fractured and divided,” Pérez-Cubas said.
“Let this serve as another warning sign that what happened in Michigan will continue to happen across the country,” Haley’s campaign said. “As long as Donald Trump tops the ticket, Republicans will continue to lose to the socialist left. “Our children deserve better.”
Trump, however, was winning more votes than Biden, even though Haley took about 30 percent of those cast by Republicans in Michigan, with 19 percent of the vote.
tTrump has surpassed Haley in the first four primary states where both appeared on the ballot. Iowa, New HampshireSouth Carolina and now Michigan.
The previous president also won the Snowfall Caucuses and a symbolic vote for Trump (voters chose “none of these candidates”) bested Haley in the Nevada presidential primary.
Haley, however, has vowed to press ahead, telling supporters in Charleston on Saturday night that she would remain in the race until Super Tuesday, March 5, when 16 states and American Samoa hold primaries.
“There are a large number of voters in our Republican primary who say they want an alternative,” he said Saturday night.
“I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president; I’m a woman of my word,” she said to applause.
During an interview with CNN Tuesday night, Haley reiterated that commitment.
“Absolutely, we have a country to save, absolutely,” Haley told the network’s Dana Bash.
In Michigan, voters could choose to vote Republican or Democrat in the primary, which meant there was a chance that Democrats and independents could cross over and help Haley, as voters did. some did it in South Carolina on Saturday.
But there was also a movement by progressives and pro-Palestine activists for Michigan Democratic voters to choose “uncommitted” on their ballot to show their support for a ceasefire in Gaza.
President Joe Biden was on the Democratic ticket along with his rival, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who was endorsed by the Detroit News.
Neither Haley nor Trump were in Michigan for the election night festivities.
Trump campaigned in the Wolverine State on February 17, headlining an event in Waterford Township.
Voters in Dearborn, Michigan, are captured at a polling place. Both Michigan Democrats and Republicans held their primaries on Tuesday, and voters were able to choose which party primary they wanted to participate in.
On the Democratic ballot, pro-Palestinian activists were asking voters to select “uncommitted” to register a protest vote and pressure President Joe Biden to support a ceasefire in Gaza. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips was also on the Democratic ticket.
Called Chris Renwick’s W on Tuesday.R 760am radio program and predicted a great victory.
‘She’s going to lose by like 80 points tonight. “It’s become a joke,” Trump said.
He has stayed off the campaign trail since Saturday, delivering victory remarks in Columbia, South Carolina, after winning Haley’s home state by 20 points.
He is planning a trip to a Texas border city on Thursday and then will headline two rallies on Saturday in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, with voters from Texas, Virginia and North Carolina as part of the Super Tuesday crowd.
Haley appeared in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Monday before traveling to Minnesota, another Super Tuesday state.
In Michigan, he criticized Trump for turning the Republican National Committee into a “playpen” with measures to make daughter-in-law Lara Trump as official party co-chair and have her top campaign advisor, Chris LaCivita, take over as RNC chief operating officer.
Speaker Ronna Romney McDaniel, the former head of the Michigan Republican Party, formally announced she would be leaving office on Monday.
On Tuesday, as Michiganders headed to the polls, Haley was in Colorado, where independent-leaning voters could help her in her quest for delegates.
The crowd in Centennial, Colorado, encouraged her to continue, chanting “don’t give up” during her afternoon appearance.
Michigan is the first state to vote where Trump and Haley have not had weeks to campaign and could be a barometer of where The former UN ambassador is approaching Super Tuesday.
While there was limited polling before the primary, Monday’s FiveThirtyEight average showed Trump with 78.8 percent support, compared to Haley’s 21.8 percent in the top five in America.
The closest Haley came to Trump’s lead was in New Hampshire, and she lost to the former president by 11 points.
Michigan is also a key swing state that Trump won in 2016, helping him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton, but lost to Biden four years later.