US President Joe Biden and former US president Donald Trump, romped through more than a dozen states on Super Tuesday, all but cementing a November rematch and pushing Trump’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, out of the Republican race.
Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich states of California and Texas, left little doubt about the trajectory of the race. Haley won Vermont, denying Trump a full sweep, but he carried other states that might have been favorable to her, such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swaths of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.
Hours after the last polls closed in Alaska, Haley scheduled a speech in her home state of South Carolina for 10am yesterday to announce that she was suspending her campaign.
Photo: AFP
Three people with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Haley’s decision ahead of her announcement.
The only contest Biden lost on Tuesday was the Democratic caucus in American Samoa, a tiny US territory in the South Pacific Ocean. Biden was defeated by previously unknown candidate Jason Palmer, 51 votes to 40.
Not enough states would have voted until later this month for Trump or Biden to formally become their parties’ presumptive nominees, but the primary’s biggest day made their rematch a near-certainty.
Photo: Reuters
Haley watched the election results in private.
Her campaign said in a statement that the results reflected there were many Republicans “who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump.”
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was packed for a victory party.
Photo: Bloomberg
“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump told a raucous crowd.
He went on to attack Biden over the US-Mexico border and the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Biden did not give a speech, but instead issued a statement.
“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk,” Biden said. “He is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his own revenge and retribution, not the American people.”
Meanwhile, a Taiwanese academic said that the outcome of the US presidential election in November might significantly affect Washington’s long-standing policy in the Indo-Pacific region.
Tunghai University political scientist Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) made the comments at a conference hosted by the Institute for National Policy Research in Taipei yesterday.
Taiwan must monitor the US election closely and prepare contingencies, as this year’s contenders for the White House have distinct approaches to geostrategy that could have profound implications for the region, Shen said.
The election of Biden or Trump might have major implications for the US-Japan-Korea relationship, as the former champions multilateralism, while latter has proposed unilateralist policies, he said.
Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy and isolationism add a factor of uncertainty that might affect the US’ posture in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the South Pacific, Shen said.
The two US presidential candidates’ policy differences would likely intensify as the US presidential election ramps up, he added.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Chin
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