Donald Trump has claimed victory in the Republican primary in South Carolina, with a thumping victory over opponent Nicki Haley in her home State.
Early results called the race for the former US President, with an overwhelming defeat over Haley by at least 20 per cent.
Shortly after polls closed on Saturday evening, US time, President Trump spoke to supporters in Columbia, South Carolina, saying he had never seen the Republican Party so united.
The former US president has claimed a sweep of early States ahead of next month’s Super Tuesday primaries, winning the Iowa caucuses, and ballots in New Hampshire and Nevada.
“There’s never been a spirit like this. And I just want to say that. I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” he said.
“(The US is) a laughingstock all over the world. Our country is going to be respected again, respected like never before
“This is a fantastic evening. It’s an early evening and a fantastic so you could all go down and you can celebrate for about 15 minutes and we have to get back to work.”
President Trump went on to say he would seek to “fire” incumbent US president Joe Biden — a riff on his catchphrase from his days as host of reality show “The Apprentice”.
“Nine months is a long time – I just wish we can do it quicker,” he said.
President Trump’s victory cemented his status as the Republican Party’s effective presidential nominee
His one remaining challenger, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, had hoped a stronger-than-expected performance in her home state buoys her long-shot campaign.
Trump was overwhelmingly favoured to win the vote in the southern state on Saturday. He swept the first four contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the US Virgin Islands, knocking out the lion’s share of the initially large Republican field along the way.
Immigration was the number one issue for voters in the Saturday’s primary, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research.
Some 41 per cent of voters polled said immigration mattered most in how they voted on Saturday, compared with 31 per cent who said the economy was their top issue, according to the poll, which gathered responses from 1508 voters. Some 84 per cent of voters said the economy is not so good or poor, with 16 per cent saying it is excellent or good
Some 32 per cent of voters said Trump would not be fit for the presidency if he were convicted of a crime, while about 65 per cent did not think Democratic President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election, the poll showed.
Before flying to South Carolina to watch returns on Saturday, Trump addressed a gathering of conservative activists near Washington in a 90-minute speech that painted a dark picture of a declining America under Biden.
He said if he beats Biden in the November 5 general election, it will represent a “judgment day” for the US and “my ultimate and absolute revenge.”
Haley, a native of South Carolina who served as the state’s governor from 2011 to 2017, dismissed suggestions this week that a home-field defeat would prompt her to end her White House bid, even though she does not have a clear path to the nomination.
Opinion polls show Trump holding an average statewide lead of 30 percentage points, according to the poll tracking website 538.
“We don’t anoint kings in this country,” she said during a campaign appearance in Greenville, South Carolina, adding that she was “not going anywhere” regardless of the primary’s outcome.
She has vowed to press on to Super Tuesday in early March, when 15 states and one US territory will vote, including Texas, Virginia and North Carolina, awarding around one-third of the delegates to July’s Republican National Convention, which will choose the nominee.
But a lopsided victory for Trump, 77, would only increase pressure on Haley, 52, to drop out so the former president can turn his attention to campaigning against Biden. The president is already treating Trump as the Republican nominee and painting him as a mortal threat to the US.