Trump wins the first nine states at stake in “Super Tuesday” – 03/06/2024 at 03:17

Donald Trump won the first nine states at stake on Tuesday in the big election day of “Super Tuesday”, confirming his triumphant march towards the Republican nomination against his rival Nikki Haley and paving the way for his return match with Joe Biden.

The former right-wing president, aged 77, has already been declared the winner of nine states by several American media: Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Maine and Massachusetts.

On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden, 81, is seeking a second term and faces no serious opposition. He won the first ten states in play on Tuesday evening, including Virginia and Vermont.

There is virtually no suspense in this primary process as the two candidates are almost going it alone, each in their own party.

Polls are taking place in 15 states, from Maine to California and from Texas to Alaska.

– “Last Standing” –

“Thank you – MAGA!”, wrote Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform, using the acronym of his slogan “Make America Great Again” and listing the states where he has won.

Since January 15 and despite his legal troubles, he has won almost all the primaries organized by his party.

The Democrats took note again Tuesday evening, calling on their base for donations.

“Trump is sweeping the Super Tuesday Republican primaries across the country. It’s going to be us against the entire Trumpist right in this election (…). I need your help,” Mr. Biden said in a press release from his campaign team.

Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the UN, poses as the candidate who will be able to restore “normality” in the face of “Trump’s chaos”. But most Republican voters are turning a deaf ear to his plea.

Apart from a symbolic victory on Sunday evening in the capital Washington, she has had a series of bitter defeats, including in the state of which she was governor, South Carolina.

Will she stay in the race if the bad news continues to fall?

The main interested party remains vague. “We’re going to continue through Super Tuesday,” she said in late February. “I didn’t think any further in terms of strategy.”

At the party organized at Mr. Trump’s house in Florida, the latter’s victory was in no doubt.

In the Mar-a-Lago ballroom, under the huge chandeliers and golden ornaments, many guests proudly displayed their red caps stamped “Make America Great Again”.

“I expect Nikki Haley to drop out,” said Kenny Nail, head of a local Republican Party branch. “President Trump will be the last one standing in the Republican primary,” he says.

The primaries can in theory stretch into the summer. But the Trump team is planning a victory “on March 19” at the latest, after votes notably in Georgia and Florida.

– Biden facing the Americans on Thursday –

Donald Trump wants to be able to focus on his duel with President Biden as soon as possible, before being sucked into his legal troubles.

His first criminal trial begins March 25 in New York.

Joe Biden is on the verge of being a candidate for re-election.

The candidacies of two Democrats launched in pursuit of him, the elected representative of Minnesota Dean Phillips and the best-selling author Marianne Williamson, have never really aroused enthusiasm, despite recurring criticism of the president’s age or his support for Israel.

This “Super Tuesday” is therefore at most a formality for Joe Biden.

But the leader will defend his record and unfold his vision for America on Thursday during a major general policy speech to Congress, the traditional “State of the Union”.

Struggling in the polls, the outgoing president “must use this last opportunity to address millions of Americans to present the contrast between his vision and what life will be like under Donald Trump,” says political scientist Wendy Schiller.