This February 24 will be the primary election of the Republican Party in South Carolinato which former President Donald Trump arrives leading the polls.
With 63.6% support, the former president could achieve the presidential candidacy for that stateleaving behind the former governor of the entity, Nikki Haley, who registers 32.9% of support, according to the average of the surveys compiled by Five Thirty Eight.
In this election, Latino voters are not expected to have a significant participationbecause most of the members of the Republican Party are white.
According to the 2020 Census, 62% overall of voters are white with 7% Latino voters, a percentage that decreases in the primary election.
Haley set herself the challenge of achieving a good result in South Carolina, although the polls do not favor her, which is why she has criticized Trump about his legal expenses.
In one of her recent expressions, Haley said that while Joe Biden is raising resources to win the general election, Trump spent $8 million in campaign donations on legal fees in a single month.
“At this rate he could spend $100 million on court cases this year, more than double what he spent in 2023,” Haley’s campaign office said.
He also accused that Trump has moved money from his PACs, although they should not be used for legal payments. It must be remembered that former President Trump enters the race after the decision of a court in New York to pay $355 million dollars, due to the fraud conspiracy to modify the value of several of his properties.
“Donald Trump only cares about one person: himself”said Haley’s national spokesperson, Olivia Pérez-Cubas. She “has turned her presidential campaign into a legal defense slush fund and she will not have the resources or focus to take on Joe Biden and the Democrats.”
Haley’s strategy is focused on the legal problems of former President Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges in four separate proceedings, in addition to civil proceedings.
“No matter what you think about Donald Trump, this is a losing strategy for November,” Pérez-Cubas said.
What if Haley loses?
Each candidate has the ability to decide at any time when to suspend a presidential campaign and there is expectation about the outcome for Haley.
If Haley Loses, It Doesn’t Mean She’s Completely Defeated in the Primary Racessince former President Trump needs 1,215 delegates from the Republican Party to secure the candidacy.
In South Carolina there are only 50 Republican delegates up for grabs, so she could still run, although she hasn’t won a single primary race so far.
Haley may decide to press ahead and wait for Super Tuesday on March 5, where a large number of delegates will be up for grabs.
Trump’s last push
Trump will give the final push to convince voters with a rally this Friday in Rock Hill, at the Winthrop Coliseum, where he is expected to criticize Haley, who was US Ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration. .
His speech will likely focus on immigration again, as he has done on several occasions, promising his followers arrests and the largest nationwide operation of mass deportations the United States has ever seen.