Presidents Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were swept to victory in all but one of their respective Super Tuesday primary elections, moving each of them within a few delegates of clinching their party’s presidential nomination.
President Trump won 14 of the 15 Republican contests and is poised to claim the lion’s share of the 865 convention delegates available. He could reach the 1,215 delegates needed for nomination within two weeks.
President Biden won 15 of 16 Democratic events, claiming all but a handful of the 1,420 available delegates. He stands to reach the 1,968 convention delegates needed for nomination as soon as March 19.
President Trump addressed supporters at Mar-a-Lago shortly after 10 p.m., calling for unity among Republicans but not mentioning challenger Nikki Haley by name.
President Biden released a statement as the results from the majority of states were posted. “Today, millions of voters across the country made their voices heard—showing that they are ready to fight back against Donald Trump’s extreme plan to take us backwards,” he wrote.
Primary elections were conducted in Alabama, Alaska (Republican only), Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. Democrat-only contests were held in Iowa and American Samoa.
Trump Momentum
President Trump posted convincing wins over Ms. Haley, with margins of victory ranging from 14 to nearly 70 percent.In Alabama, the former president won by 69 percentage points. In Oklahoma, he posted 66 point margin of victory, and he carried Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, California, and Texas by more than 50 percentage points.
Pollster Rich Barris called the result a “worst case scenario” for Ms. Haley.
Ms. Haley, who had claimed her first primary victory in Washington, D.C., on March 3, eked out a second win in Vermont, besting President Trump by 4 percentage points to claim just over half of the states 17 delegates.
Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for Ms. Haley, released a statement as the results were being totaled, apparently in response to Mr. Trump’s remarks on unity.
“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united.’ Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump. That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better,” Ms. Perez-Cubas said.
The Matchup
President Trump and President Biden have been running neck and neck in national polling in recent weeks, occasionally trading the lead by a few percentage points.Voters who favor President Biden or Ms. Haley frequently tell The Epoch Times that preventing President Trump from returning to office is the driving factor in their decisions.
Nedra French of Jacksonville, Arkansas, said she was motivated to oppose President Trump because of his “starting a riot and getting all those folks hurt” on Jan. 6, 2021.
Shannon McKinnon of Dallas, Texas, is a registered Republican but often votes Democratic. He voted for Nikki Haley “to get out Trump.” He added, “I think this time around, I’m a ‘Never Trumper.’”
However, President Biden has lost some support among Independent voters, and some observers believe President Trump is gaining ground with Democrats and Independents.
Ervin Phillips, 89, of Boston, voted for Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who has suspended his presidential campaign. Mr. Phillips, an independent, said President Biden represents “the old Democrat machine.” He addded that while he supports Israel, he believes President Biden is “way overdue” in pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Marcayla Amadei, 27, a political consultant and organizer from South Portland, Maine, told The Epoch Times that many Democrats she knows are planning to vote Republican in the Senate race and some at the presidential level.
“There has been a ton of response of Independents and Democrats across the state saying they’re going to vote Republican, at least at the Senate level. But we’ve also had some luck with voters planning to vote at the presidential level,” she said.
Citing the high cost of living and housing in Maine, she said, “That’s the big thing with the migrant issue. There’s such a big focus on it, with all the virtue signaling, and we just want our government to say it wants us to stay in the state.”
“We need change,” Joaquin Fernandez, 52, of Merced, California, told The Epoch Times.
Questions About Biden
On the Democratic side, President Biden continues unopposed in his quest for a second term, despite mounting questions over his age and fitness for office. The president, now 81 years of age, has adamantly maintained that he intends to “finish the job” he began in his first term.The public perception that President Biden has experienced cognitive decline was furthered by a Feb. 8 report by special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated weather charges should be brought against the president for his retention of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency at the end of the Obama administration.
Mr. Hur stated that President Biden would likely present himself to a jury as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
President Biden held a press conference to refute that description of himself only to confuse the presidents of Egypt and Mexico when answering a reporter’s question.
Defenders of the president have called the report “politically motivated.”
“I’m tired of the old age thing, and I’m young myself,” Biden supporter Julie McClanahan, 65, of Lovettsville, Virginia, told The Epoch Times. “Joe Biden’s done a good job considering what he was handed.”
Former First Lady Michelle Obama, who has been rumored to be a likely replacement for President Biden on the November ballot, strongly denied that possibility through a spokesperson.
“As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” Crystal Carson, director of communications for Mrs. Obama’s office, said on March 4.
Trump Trials
The road to November is complicated for President Trump as well, as he is defending himself in four criminal trials simultaneously. The 45th president is accused of falsifying business records in a New York court and of of conspiracy to overturn the result of the 2020 election in a Georgia court. He faces federal charges related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington and related to his retention of government documents in Miami.President Trump’s attorneys argued on March 1 for a delay in the Miami trial, currently set to begin on May 20.
Todd Blanche, an attorney representing the Republican frontrunner, said it is unfair to the American people to keep President Trump in the courtroom when he should be on the campaign trail.
Mr. Blanche argued that the Sixth Amendment affords President Trump the right to be present and to participate in the legal proceedings, while at the same time, the First Amendment affords him—and the American people—the right to engage in his campaign speech-making.
The attorney asked how the prosecution could argue “with a straight face” that President Trump should be expected to fly back and forth to multiple courtrooms for trials with overlapping dates for hearings. The only reason for requesting an early trial, they argued, is to put President Trump on trial before the election.
Trump supporters seem unfazed by the former president’s legal troubles.
“It’s all ‘Trumped’ up charges,” Oklahoman Ron Compton told The Epoch Times after voting for President Trump on March 5.
Meanwhile, President Trump was ordered on Feb. 16 to pay a penalty of nearly $355 million, plus interest, after he was found liable for conspiring to misrepresent his net worth. Many of the former president’s considerable assets are in the form of real estate, so the judgement, which could total more than $450 million, could pose a cashflow problem.
Countdown to Conventions
A Democratic primary will be held in Hawaii on March 9 with 19 delegates available.Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington will hold presidential primaries on March 12 with 161 delegates at stake.
Democratic contests will occur in Georgia, Mississippi, the Northern Mariana Islands, Washington, as well as for Democrats living abroad on March 12 with 276 delegates available.
Republican primaries will be held in American Samoa on March 8 and in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington on March 12 with a total of 170 delegates at stake.
Primaries for the remaining states and territories will take place from March 15 through June 8.
The Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee on July 15–18. The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago on Aug. 19–22.
