FROM OUR REPORTER
CHARLESTON (South Carolina) – “I like her because she doesn't give up even when everyone tells her to,” explains Julia, 13, with braces and her mother by her side. Nikki Haley's final rally in South Carolina – against the backdrop of the aircraft carrier docked in Charleston known as “The Fighting Lady” – was also the first rally of Julia's life. And his mother is not even a Republican: she is one of the many Democrats who, due to the rules in force in this state, chose to participate in the primaries of one party or another and therefore chose to participate in the Republican primaries Given that Biden's nomination was a given.
Sylvia Jefferies, granddaughter of a Democratic governor of the state in the 1940s who voted for Trump twice, told us she chose Nikki because she was a “Southern mother in a man's world” and as governor this State caused unemployment from 11 years to 4%. For her, voting for Haley was a form of resistance to Trump and the feeling of helplessness that accompanies this election, regardless of the outcome.
Feather boas and fuchsia necklaces
Polls before the vote showed Haley's gap to Trump had narrowed from over 30 points to around 23 points, still insurmountable even in the eyes of her fans. Feather boas were handed out at the rally and men wore fuchsia necklaces, but in the rest of the state Trump has an overwhelming advantage and the former Republican governor is being branded a Biden agent. Still, she explains, “I refuse to give up. South Carolina votes on Saturday and I will still be running for president on Sunday.”
The former president talks about Putin
Meanwhile, in Washington at CPAC (the conservative conference), Trump spoke about the November election, anticipating that he would beat her in South Carolina, as he did in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. “You’re fired, Biden, get out of my way,” he mocked the incumbent president, imitating his gait. Trump quoted Putin, who said in a recent interview that he preferred Biden in the White House. “I agree with him. I blocked the Nord Stream pipeline. Biden agreed to this and stopped our Keystone pipeline.” Even the openings to the African-American community are aimed at wresting a percentage of this typically Democratic electorate from Biden: At a gala at the Black Conservative Federation in South Carolina, the former president said that African Americans sympathize with him because the trials show how they are “discriminated against”. The audience laughed at his jokes: “The lights are so bright I can barely see people in the back.” I see black people but no white people…do you see how far I've come?
“A little moderation”
At CPAC yesterday, several politicians – men and women – marched in auditions to be Trump's surrogates. When we approach Haley and discover that Italy already has a female prime minister, she replies, “It's about time here too.” For Helen, a scientist and Democratic voter who moved here from New England and is a first-time resident will participate in the Republican primary in her lifetime to vote for the former governor, this is not a feminist issue. Haley is an unusual champion of women's rights: she declared after the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos were “people,” but then had to “catch up” by emphasizing her support for in vitro fertilization (Trump did so in front of her). ) Helen's husband warned her that her vote might be for Trump's future vice president. “But even if it were true, I wouldn’t mind: it can bring a bit of moderation.”
Nikki's money
Why does Nikki Haley keep running? He has the money for it: He raised $16.5 billion in January alone, infuriating Trump, who has threatened to “permanently ban” these Republican donors. But many think Haley herself is looking beyond the primaries, much further: to 2028.