SOUTH CAROLINA: Former U.S. President Donald Trump won South Carolina’s Republican primary, 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.

(VOA)