Trump wins Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, beating Haley in her home state

Donald Trump won South Carolina's Republican presidential primary on Saturday, beating former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state and further consolidating his path to a third-straight Republican nomination.

The former U.S. president has now swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, with wins already in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands.Trump's latest victory will likely increase pressure on Haley, who was Trump's former representative to the UNand South Carolina governor from 2011 to 2017, to leave the race.

A 2020 general rematch between Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden is becoming increasingly likely. Haley has vowed to stay in the race through at least the batch of primaries on March 5, known as Super Tuesday, but was unable to dent Trump's momentum in her home state despite holding far more campaign events and arguing that the indictments against Trump will hamstring him against Biden.

The Associated Press declared Trump the winner as polls closed statewide at 7 p.m. ET. The AP based its race call on an analysis of AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of Republican South Carolina primary voters. The survey confirms the findings of pre-election day polls showing Trump far outpacing Haley statewide.

"I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now," Trump declared, taking the stage for his victory speech mere moments after polls closed. He added, "You can celebrate for about 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work."

South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary has historically been a reliable bellwether for Republicans. In all but one primary since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to be the party's nominee. The lone exception was Newt Gingrich in 2012.

Haley said in recent days that she would head straight to Michigan for its Tuesday primary, the last major contest before Super Tuesday. She faces questions about where she might be able to win a contest or be competitive.

She has raised copious amounts of campaign money and is scheduled to begin a cross-country campaign swing on Sunday in Michigan ahead of Super Tuesday on March 5, when many delegate-rich states hold primaries.

But it's unclear how she can stop Trump from clinching enough delegates to become the party's presumptive nominee for the third time.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, complimented Haley while speaking to reporters at Trump's election night party in Columbia but suggested it was time for her to drop out.

"I think the sooner she does, the better for her, the better for the party," Graham said.

Trump's political strength has endured despite facing 91 criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, the discovery of classified documents in his Florida residence and allegations that he secretly arranged payoffs to a porn actress.

WATCH |U.S. Supreme Court grills lawyers in Trump disqualification case:

U.S. Supreme Court grills lawyers in Trump disqualification case | About That

8 months ago

Duration 9:37

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about whether former president Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to hold office again after the Colorado Supreme Court voted to remove him from that states ballot. Andrew Chang breaks down key arguments from the proceedings.

The former president's first criminal trial is set to begin on March 25 in New York, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the closing weeks of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Biden won South Carolina's Democratic primary earlier this month and faces only one remaining challenger, Dean Phillips. The Minnesota Democratic congressman has continued to campaign in Michigan ahead of the Democratic primary there, despite having little chance of actually beating Biden.

Although Biden is expected to cruise to his party's renomination, he faces criticism from some Democrats for providing military backing to Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Some in his party support a ceasefire as the death toll in the war has reached nearly 30,000 people, according to Palestinian officials.

Israel launched its months-long military campaign in retaliation for an Oct. 7 surprise attack by militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage in the attack.