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| Election live: Donald Trump wins South Carolina primary | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 12.44am GMT | |
| 00:44 | |
| Lee Glendinning | |
| The crowd at Donald Trump’s watch party - now victory rally - celebrates the New York billionaire’s victory in the South Carolina Republican primary. | |
| 12.37am GMT | |
| 00:37 | |
| Scott Bixby | |
| Within seconds of Fox News declaring that Texas senator Ted Cruz had finished in a disappointing third in the South Carolina Republican primary, the Cruz campaign staffer in charge of the audio switched the speakers at the event here at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia to a bracingly loud country music soundtrack. | |
| “Let’s put on some music in here!” a man in a newly purchased Cruz-branded jersey shouted to no one in particular. | |
| The down-ballot results are still too close to call here in South Carolina. | |
| A Cruz spokesperson raced to the media table to clarify that Fox News had asked the campaign to change the audio, and that the broadcast was not muted out of terror. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.39am GMT | |
| 12.33am GMT | |
| 00:33 | |
| Scott Bixby | |
| A lot of pursed lips at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds right now. | |
| At Ted Cruz’s watch party in Columbia, South Carolina, news that the Associated Press has called the South Carolina primary for bitter rival Donald Trump has dampened what was, at once point, a boisterous atmosphere. | |
| 12.30am GMT | |
| 00:30 | |
| Donald Trump wins South Carolina primary – AP calls it | |
| Scott Bixby | |
| The Associated Press has called the South Carolina Republican primary for New York billionaire Donald Trump. | |
| The win – Trump’s second since his double-digit victory in New Hampshire – further clears the first-time candidate’s path toward the Republican nomination for the White House. | |
| With just a trickle of votes reporting so far, Trump has captured 32.5% of South Carolina’s Republican voters, beating Texas senator Ted Cruz’s 22.3% and Florida senator Marco Rubio’s 20.9%, according to preliminary estimates by the Associated Press. Jeb Bush languishes in a distant fourth place at 11.8%, in what may spell the final moments of the Bush dynasty’s latest bid for the presidency. | |
| Trump has been the Republican frontrunner – both in South Carolina and nationally – since the first few weeks of his improbable candidacy, but with two of the first three presidential nominating contests having named him the winner, he is building a strong delegate lead that will make it even harder for his fellow candidates to catch up. | |
| Paired with a closer than anticipated finish for Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders in Nevada’s dueling Democratic caucus earlier today, it’s shaping up to be a good night for outsiders. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.34am GMT | |
| 12.22am GMT | |
| 00:22 | |
| Ben Jacobs | |
| Exit polls showed that while Ted Cruz reliably won voters who described themselves as “very conservative” by a margin of 38% to 27% over Donald Trump, the real estate mogul narrowly edged the Texas senator among those Republican voters who identified as evangelical. | |
| Trump continued to build his coalition among voters who described themselves as angry and his supporters were disproportionately less educated. Trump got 38% of the vote among those without college degrees and only 24%, behind Rubio, among those with a college education. | |
| 12.18am GMT | |
| 00:18 | |
| Lee Glendinning | |
| The mood is buoyant at the Donald Trump party preparations in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with a vibrant crowd of supporters regularly breaking out into chants and plenty of cheese and crackers on hand. | |
| 12.10am GMT | 12.10am GMT |
| 00:10 | 00:10 |
| Scott Bixby | Scott Bixby |
| Earlier today in Chapin, South Carolina, primary voters Jane and Bob, a retired teacher and Bell South employee, respectively, highlighted the surprisingly anti-establishment nature of this campaign cycle. | Earlier today in Chapin, South Carolina, primary voters Jane and Bob, a retired teacher and Bell South employee, respectively, highlighted the surprisingly anti-establishment nature of this campaign cycle. |
| Jane, upon finding out her husband voted for Trump, was shocked. | Jane, upon finding out her husband voted for Trump, was shocked. |
| “You did not!” she exclaimed. | “You did not!” she exclaimed. |
| Bob was apologetic. “We didn’t talk about it!” | Bob was apologetic. “We didn’t talk about it!” |
| When asked why she voted for Jeb Bush, Jane cited his policy on education. “I’m a retired teacher, and I think that Bush is the best for education, which nobody seems to talk about too much this year.” | When asked why she voted for Jeb Bush, Jane cited his policy on education. “I’m a retired teacher, and I think that Bush is the best for education, which nobody seems to talk about too much this year.” |
| For his part, Bob was less interested in particular policy points than the cultural shift that Trump represents. “Political correctness is dooming this country,” Bob said. “They all take money from outsiders, and Donald Trump has his own money.” | For his part, Bob was less interested in particular policy points than the cultural shift that Trump represents. “Political correctness is dooming this country,” Bob said. “They all take money from outsiders, and Donald Trump has his own money.” |
| 12.02am GMT | 12.02am GMT |
| 00:02 | 00:02 |
| Richard Wolffe | Richard Wolffe |
| Bernie Sanders may, like Steve Jobs, be living in a reality distortion field. | Bernie Sanders may, like Steve Jobs, be living in a reality distortion field. |
| Delivering his speech in defeat in Nevada, he confidently declared the polls were moving his way. “We have made some real progress here,” he began. He said at the heart of the campaign was “the issue of momentum”, that he was closing the gap in the polls and that “we have come a very long way”. | Delivering his speech in defeat in Nevada, he confidently declared the polls were moving his way. “We have made some real progress here,” he began. He said at the heart of the campaign was “the issue of momentum”, that he was closing the gap in the polls and that “we have come a very long way”. |
| All of which may be true – but it just isn’t enough because, well, he lost in Nevada. | All of which may be true – but it just isn’t enough because, well, he lost in Nevada. |
| “The wind is at our backs,” he said. “We have the momentum.” | “The wind is at our backs,” he said. “We have the momentum.” |
| All this comes a week before the Democratic primary in South Carolina, where Bernie is heading for what looks like a decisive defeat. | All this comes a week before the Democratic primary in South Carolina, where Bernie is heading for what looks like a decisive defeat. |
| Sanders has promised one of the great political upsets at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia in July. He’s got to deliver a few more state-by-state upsets – more than just New Hampshire – before he can deliver on that promise. | Sanders has promised one of the great political upsets at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia in July. He’s got to deliver a few more state-by-state upsets – more than just New Hampshire – before he can deliver on that promise. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.09am GMT | at 12.09am GMT |
| 12.01am GMT | 12.01am GMT |
| 00:01 | 00:01 |
| Polls close in South Carolina Republican primary | Polls close in South Carolina Republican primary |
| Scott Bixby | Scott Bixby |
| Greetings from South Carolina, where the polls have just closed in the first-in-the-south primary election. | Greetings from South Carolina, where the polls have just closed in the first-in-the-south primary election. |
| Your blog, which is also still in Nevada, is now half-embedded here at the primary-night watch party for Ted Cruz at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, the capital and largest city in the Palmetto State. | Your blog, which is also still in Nevada, is now half-embedded here at the primary-night watch party for Ted Cruz at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, the capital and largest city in the Palmetto State. |
| We’ve also got political reporter Ben Jacobs up in Spartanburg with Donald Trump and Sabrina Siddiqui here in Columbia with Marco Rubio ... plus Adam Gabbatt across town with perhaps the near-end of Jeb Bush and his family dynasty. | We’ve also got political reporter Ben Jacobs up in Spartanburg with Donald Trump and Sabrina Siddiqui here in Columbia with Marco Rubio ... plus Adam Gabbatt across town with perhaps the near-end of Jeb Bush and his family dynasty. |
| The mood in Cruz’s camp is an optimistic one as voters surged across the state in a primary that multiple precinct clerks told the Guardian is on pace to shatter voter turnout records. Although b Trump has run a double-digit lead in every South Carolina poll since, well, polling began, the Texas senator has been closing the gap over the past week, with Florida senator Marco Rubio hot on his heels in a battle for second place. | The mood in Cruz’s camp is an optimistic one as voters surged across the state in a primary that multiple precinct clerks told the Guardian is on pace to shatter voter turnout records. Although b Trump has run a double-digit lead in every South Carolina poll since, well, polling began, the Texas senator has been closing the gap over the past week, with Florida senator Marco Rubio hot on his heels in a battle for second place. |
| If our completely un-scientific exit polling – conducted at polling stations in Chapin, Prosperity, Newberry, Greenville and Daniel Island, South Carolina – is any indication, Saturday’s primary is Trump’s to lose. (The TV networks’ exit polls, which are yours to distrust, say Cruz is doing pretty well but Trump’s got the edge.) | If our completely un-scientific exit polling – conducted at polling stations in Chapin, Prosperity, Newberry, Greenville and Daniel Island, South Carolina – is any indication, Saturday’s primary is Trump’s to lose. (The TV networks’ exit polls, which are yours to distrust, say Cruz is doing pretty well but Trump’s got the edge.) |
| Mark Rushton of Chapin told the Guardian that all members of congress should be kicked out of government after their second term, and that his vote for Trump was a vote against career politicians. “All the politicians are lining their pockets – Trump’s got his own pockets!” | Mark Rushton of Chapin told the Guardian that all members of congress should be kicked out of government after their second term, and that his vote for Trump was a vote against career politicians. “All the politicians are lining their pockets – Trump’s got his own pockets!” |
| Cruz, however, is banking on voters like Debbie Nogueira of Greenville, who have been turned off by Trump’s braggadocio and inconsistent support of conservative causes. “It was a hard decision – I didn’t even know until last week who I was gonna vote for,” Nogueira told the Guardian. “It was more about voting against Donald Trump than anything. I don’t like his attitude, he doesn’t seem to be of presidential material. He had Democratic opinions until five years ago, when he decided he could win as a Republican!” | Cruz, however, is banking on voters like Debbie Nogueira of Greenville, who have been turned off by Trump’s braggadocio and inconsistent support of conservative causes. “It was a hard decision – I didn’t even know until last week who I was gonna vote for,” Nogueira told the Guardian. “It was more about voting against Donald Trump than anything. I don’t like his attitude, he doesn’t seem to be of presidential material. He had Democratic opinions until five years ago, when he decided he could win as a Republican!” |
| The results are expected to roll in relatively quickly, so stay tuned for our moment-by-moment rundown of Saturday night’s live battle down south ... | The results are expected to roll in relatively quickly, so stay tuned for our moment-by-moment rundown of Saturday night’s live battle down south ... |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.07am GMT | at 12.07am GMT |
| 11.59pm GMT | 11.59pm GMT |
| 23:59 | 23:59 |
| Maria L La Ganga | Maria L La Ganga |
| Jen Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, addressed reporters at her victory party. | Jen Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, addressed reporters at her victory party. |
| People are looking for a president that can take care of all the problems people are facing and that can remove all the barriers that are holding them back... Since coming out of Iowa she has been speaking about and demonstrated ... by going to Flint that it’s not just economics, although that’s also important, it’s about creating jobs and it’s about removing other barriers, whether it’s about holding people back from being able to afford college or health care or housing discrimination or here in Nevada where they’re recovering from the housing mess, that she’s someone who can deal with all the problems and deliver results. | People are looking for a president that can take care of all the problems people are facing and that can remove all the barriers that are holding them back... Since coming out of Iowa she has been speaking about and demonstrated ... by going to Flint that it’s not just economics, although that’s also important, it’s about creating jobs and it’s about removing other barriers, whether it’s about holding people back from being able to afford college or health care or housing discrimination or here in Nevada where they’re recovering from the housing mess, that she’s someone who can deal with all the problems and deliver results. |
| Senator Sanders has run a very good campaign. He speaks very passionately to a lot of the anger, justifiably so that eople feel here. But we think that the longer the campaign goes on the more apparent it becomes as she makes her argument that she has solutions that will actually work and make a difference in people’s lives for all the barriers that hold them back. The most core principle that has motivated her all of her life is doing whatever she can to removing the barriers that stand in people’s way for having opportunity. | Senator Sanders has run a very good campaign. He speaks very passionately to a lot of the anger, justifiably so that eople feel here. But we think that the longer the campaign goes on the more apparent it becomes as she makes her argument that she has solutions that will actually work and make a difference in people’s lives for all the barriers that hold them back. The most core principle that has motivated her all of her life is doing whatever she can to removing the barriers that stand in people’s way for having opportunity. |
| She said tonight ... that the country can’t live to its potential until each of us can live up to our own. That’s what’s always motivated her. | She said tonight ... that the country can’t live to its potential until each of us can live up to our own. That’s what’s always motivated her. |
| I don’t know the actual numbers RE unions, Maria reports, but it’s something that she and president Clinton spent a lot of time working on and they were very supportive of her in the past. We’ll have to see what the exit polls say. | I don’t know the actual numbers RE unions, Maria reports, but it’s something that she and president Clinton spent a lot of time working on and they were very supportive of her in the past. We’ll have to see what the exit polls say. |
| 11.56pm GMT | 11.56pm GMT |
| 23:56 | 23:56 |
| Sanders supporter cheers him into stage pic.twitter.com/H16y4pJEgt | Sanders supporter cheers him into stage pic.twitter.com/H16y4pJEgt |
| Sanders supporters cheer him as if he won in Nevada pic.twitter.com/61gDEBGpdr | Sanders supporters cheer him as if he won in Nevada pic.twitter.com/61gDEBGpdr |
| Sanders supporters at post caucus rally still enthused but pavilion less than half full pic.twitter.com/Txdg98wnsm | Sanders supporters at post caucus rally still enthused but pavilion less than half full pic.twitter.com/Txdg98wnsm |
| As Sanders leaves stage Bowie's Starman playing on speakers | As Sanders leaves stage Bowie's Starman playing on speakers |
| 11.53pm GMT | 11.53pm GMT |
| 23:53 | 23:53 |
| Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement on the Nevada caucus: | Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement on the Nevada caucus: |
| Hillary Clinton’s surprising underperformance in a state she should have won handily is another blow for her struggling campaign. Coming off a disastrous 22-point loss in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton fell far short of the resounding victory she needed to calm the nerves of the Democrat establishment. Just weeks ago, the Clinton campaign was projecting a blowout but they once again had to pull out all of the stops to avoid another loss. | Hillary Clinton’s surprising underperformance in a state she should have won handily is another blow for her struggling campaign. Coming off a disastrous 22-point loss in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton fell far short of the resounding victory she needed to calm the nerves of the Democrat establishment. Just weeks ago, the Clinton campaign was projecting a blowout but they once again had to pull out all of the stops to avoid another loss. |
| The fact Bernie Sanders has shown the ability to compete anywhere on the map says as much about Democrats’ dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton and her weaknesses as a candidate as it does about the sharp left turn their Party has taken. A prolonged nominating contest where Hillary Clinton is forced to outflank a self-avowed socialist will only make it easier for Republicans to recapture the White House. | The fact Bernie Sanders has shown the ability to compete anywhere on the map says as much about Democrats’ dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton and her weaknesses as a candidate as it does about the sharp left turn their Party has taken. A prolonged nominating contest where Hillary Clinton is forced to outflank a self-avowed socialist will only make it easier for Republicans to recapture the White House. |
| 11.47pm GMT | 11.47pm GMT |
| 23:47 | 23:47 |
| Lastly, as you know, taking on the establishment - whether it is the political establishment, the economic establishment - is not easy. | Lastly, as you know, taking on the establishment - whether it is the political establishment, the economic establishment - is not easy. |
| But, he continues, “we have the momentum; and I believe that when Democrats assemble in Philadelphia in July at that convention, we are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States.” | But, he continues, “we have the momentum; and I believe that when Democrats assemble in Philadelphia in July at that convention, we are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States.” |
| The crowd goes wild. | The crowd goes wild. |
| “Now it’s on to Super Tuesday,” he finishes. | “Now it’s on to Super Tuesday,” he finishes. |
| Not a subdued concession speech - a much more aggressive tack taken by senator Sanders there. | Not a subdued concession speech - a much more aggressive tack taken by senator Sanders there. |
| 11.44pm GMT | 11.44pm GMT |
| 23:44 | 23:44 |
| He thanks his supporters; his “thousands of volunteers, including many of you, for working tirelessly. I want to thank our staff for the great job that they have done.” | He thanks his supporters; his “thousands of volunteers, including many of you, for working tirelessly. I want to thank our staff for the great job that they have done.” |
| “I am especially proud that here in Nevada - we’re seeing this all over the country - we are bringing working people, young people into the political process in a way we have not seen for a very long time.” | “I am especially proud that here in Nevada - we’re seeing this all over the country - we are bringing working people, young people into the political process in a way we have not seen for a very long time.” |
| He says in a short time, he will be “on a plane to South Carolina.” | He says in a short time, he will be “on a plane to South Carolina.” |
| I believe, on Super Tuesday, we have got a chance to win many of those states. | I believe, on Super Tuesday, we have got a chance to win many of those states. |
| Now he hits out at Clinton: “But I also know that on Super Tuesday and before, we will be taking on a very powerful and well funded super PAC, which receives money from wall street and special interests.” | Now he hits out at Clinton: “But I also know that on Super Tuesday and before, we will be taking on a very powerful and well funded super PAC, which receives money from wall street and special interests.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.47pm GMT | at 11.47pm GMT |
| 11.42pm GMT | 11.42pm GMT |
| 23:42 | 23:42 |
| What this entire campaign has been about is the issue of momentum - the issue of bringing more people into the political process. When we began in Iowa we were 50 points behind. We were 44 points behind in New Hampshire. We were a long way behind here. | What this entire campaign has been about is the issue of momentum - the issue of bringing more people into the political process. When we began in Iowa we were 50 points behind. We were 44 points behind in New Hampshire. We were a long way behind here. |
| He hits out at the “corrupt campaign finance system which is undermining our democracy.” | He hits out at the “corrupt campaign finance system which is undermining our democracy.” |
| If Hillary Clinton’s speech was practically an inaugural address, Sanders’ speech is a Greatest Hits album. | If Hillary Clinton’s speech was practically an inaugural address, Sanders’ speech is a Greatest Hits album. |
| The American people are catching on that we have a rigged economy - people working two or three hours, longer and longer hours, for all income to go to the top one percent. | The American people are catching on that we have a rigged economy - people working two or three hours, longer and longer hours, for all income to go to the top one percent. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.47pm GMT | at 11.47pm GMT |