Several Democrats took to social media Saturday night to poke fun at former President Donald Trump following his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary election, with some even encouraging his last major GOP rival to stay in the race.
The primary was called for the former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner just moments after polls closed Saturday night. Trump celebrated saying he looked forward to telling President Biden in November: “Joe, you’re fired.”
In a statement following the news of Trump’s victory over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Biden insisted that “Every day, Americans are reminded of the threat Donald Trump poses to our future as Americans grapple with the damage he left behind.”
Biden specifically took aim at Trump over the issue of abortion, saying the former president is “ripping away a fundamental constitutional right women had in this country for 50 years.”
In a statement following the news of Trump’s victory over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, President Biden insisted that “Every day, Americans are reminded of the threat Donald Trump poses to our future as Americans grapple with the damage he left behind.” (Getty Images)
“We are still rebuilding the economy after Trump lost millions of good-paying jobs and sold out working families to give himself and his wealthy friends handouts,” Biden added. “And Trump is promising to once again use the presidency for his own revenge and retribution after January 6 stained our collective consciousness.”
Reacting to the news of Trump’s win, Victor Shi, the youngest elected delegate for Joe Biden in 2020, wrote on X, “Would love if mainstream media also stated pointing out the fact that President Biden won South Carolina by more than 97% of the vote and that almost 60% of Nikki Haley voters said in exit polls that they’d vote against Trump today.”
“Trump is weak and he will lose,” Shi added.
In a follow-up post, Shi insisted that Trump “hasn’t even surpassed 60% of the vote today” and that “he’s in a weak position.”
“The Republican Party is in disarray. Democrats are united behind President Biden,” Shi said.
Democratic political strategist Adam Parkhomenko also weighed in following Trump’s victory, writing in a post to X, “Things are not going well at the Trump event in South Carolina.”
Parkhomenko’s post included a clip of Trump welcoming South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham to the stage as he gave his victory remarks. In the clip, Graham could be seen walking to the mic as the crowd of Trump supporters booed the senator.
Josh Marshall — the founder and editor-in-chief of Talking Points Memo, a liberal political news and opinion website — penned an article titled “Face It: This is a Weak Showing for Trump in South Carolina.”
In the article, Marshall wrote, “I’m not going to speculate what it means for the general election. But this is a lot of persistent opposition for a candidate who has always been running as a de facto incumbent.”
“Even if you set that de facto incumbency aside, it’s quite a lot for a candidate who is, whatever technicalities you want to get caught up in, the presumptive nominee. 40% of Republican primary voters are still showing up to say they don’t want Trump even when they know they’re definitely going to get him,” he added.
Former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters during an election night watch party at the State Fairgrounds on February 24, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Others are looking to Haley to stay in the race to compete with Trump.
During an appearance on CNN, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said he believes Haley should stay in the race against Trump.
“I believe Nikki Haley should stay in the race,” Clyburn told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Clyburn’s comments came after California Gov. Gavin Newsom told MSNBC Saturday during an interview that will air Sunday that he believes Haley is one of the Democratic Party’s “better surrogates” for making the case against Trump.
“I don’t know why Democrats would want her out of the race,” Newsom told the outlet. “She’s one of our better surrogates. I mean, she’s defining the opposition to Trump credibly, effectively.”
“She’s making points I’m applauding every single day,” he added.
Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during her primary election night gathering at The Charleston Place on February 24, 2024 in Charleston, South Carolina. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Despite many Republican calls for Haley to drop out of the race, the former UN ambassador said Saturday night that she isn’t going anywhere. Haley had pledged to stay in the race even if she lost the Palmetto State, and she said she’s sticking with that.
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“I’m a woman of my word. I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she told supporters gathered at a watch party in Charleston.
Fox News projected Saturday shortly after polls closed that Trump will win the state’s GOP primary. Trump has three times as many delegates as Haley; he will win up to 50 more tonight.
But Haley intends to keep the race going through Super Tuesday. “We’re headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week,” she said.