In Nashville, Tennessee, March 5, 2024 (AFP / SETH HERALD)
Donald Trump has already won most of the states at stake on the big election day of Super Tuesday. In doing so, he confirmed his victory toward the Republican nomination against his rival Nikki Haley and paved the way for his rematch with Joe Biden.
The 77-year-old former right-wing president was declared the winner of 11 of 15 states by several American media outlets. Including Virginia, North Carolina and Texas.
By contrast, preliminary forecasts put him neck-and-neck with Ms. Haley in Vermont. The results from the other states, such as California, should be known overnight.
On the Democratic side, 81-year-old President Joe Biden is seeking a second term and is facing no serious opposition. He won the first 12 states in the game on Tuesday night.
There is virtually no tension in this primary process as the two candidates act almost alone, each in their own party.
Polls are taking place in 15 states, from Maine to California and from Texas to Alaska.
– “Last Standing” –
Donald Trump, during a campaign rally in Richmond, Virginia, March 2, 2024 (AFP / SAUL LOEB)
“Thank you – MAGA!” Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, using the acronym of his slogan “Make America Great Again” and listing the states in which he won.
Since January 15, despite his legal problems, he has won almost all of the primaries organized by his party.
Democrats took note of this again Tuesday evening and called on their base to donate.
“Trump sweeps Republican primaries across the country on Super Tuesday. We will be running against the entire Trumpist right in this election (…). I need your help,” Mr. Biden said in a press release from his campaign.
Nikki Haley, former UN ambassador, poses as a candidate who can restore “normalcy” in the face of “Trump’s chaos.” But most Republican voters are deaf to his appeal.
Nikki Haley, in Maine, March 3, 2024 (AFP / Joseph Prezioso)
In addition to a symbolic victory on Sunday evening in the capital Washington, she suffered 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?
It remains vague. “We’ll keep going until Super Tuesday,” she said in late February. “I didn’t think any further strategically.”
At the party, organized at Mr. Trump's home in Florida, there was no doubt about his victory.
In the Mar-a-Lago Ballroom, beneath giant chandeliers and gold ornaments, many guests proudly displayed their red caps that read “Make America Great Again.”
A Donald Trump supporter at Mar-a-Lago, March 5, 2024 (AFP / CHANDAN KHANNA)
“I expect Nikki Haley to drop out,” said Kenny Nail, head of a local branch of the Republican Party. “President Trump will be the last man standing in the Republican primary,” he says.
The primaries could theoretically last into the summer. But the Trump team is planning a victory no later than “March 19,” after the votes, particularly in Georgia and Florida.
– Biden faces the Americans on Thursday –
Donald Trump wants to be able to concentrate on his duel with President Biden as quickly as possible before he gets dragged into his legal problems.
His first criminal trial begins March 25 in New York.
US President Joe Biden, in Texas, February 29, 2024 (AFP / Jim WATSON)
Joe Biden is about to run for re-election.
The candidacies of two Democrats who wanted to pursue him, Minnesota Rep.-elect Dean Phillips and best-selling author Marianne Williamson, never generated much enthusiasm despite recurring criticism of the president's age or his support for Israel.
This “Super Tuesday” is therefore at best a formality for Joe Biden.
But the leader will defend his record and lay out his vision for America on Thursday during a major general policy speech to Congress, the traditional “State of the Union.”
The outgoing president, who is doing poorly in the polls, must “use this last opportunity to address millions of Americans and explain to them the contrast between his vision and life under Donald Trump,” says political scientist Wendy Schiller.