Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley won her first Republican Party presidential primary in the nation’s capital on Sunday against former President Donald Trump.
Haley won the Washington, D.C., Republican primary 63% to Trump’s 33% with nearly all the votes counted, according to the Associated Press.
Trump has dominated in all of the other contests that have taken place thus far, winning in some states by more than 70 points.
Haley’s campaign responded to the win by stating on social media: “This makes Nikki Haley the first woman to win a Republican primary in U.S. history.”
The former South Carolina Governor has repeatedly vowed to stay in the primary race through Super Tuesday, buoyed by solid fundraising numbers despite Trump’s steadily widening lead.
“Tonight’s results in Washington D.C. reaffirm the object of President Trump’s campaign — he will drain the swamp and put America first,” the Trump Campaign said in a statement. “While Nikki has been soundly rejected throughout the rest of America, she was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo. The swamp has claimed their queen. President Trump will fight for every American who is being let down by these very DC insiders and devastated by Joe Biden’s failures.”
Haley, who still trails far behind Trump in polls across the country, now has 43 total delegates while Trump has 244.
Trump will likely come close to clinching the Republican Party nomination after the Super Tuesday states vote this week after North Dakota holds its caucus on Monday. The Super Tuesday states include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
Trump later responded to Haley’s win, posting on social media: “I purposely stayed away from the D.C. Vote because it is the ‘Swamp,’ with very few delegates, and no upside. Birdbrain spent all of her time, money and effort there. Over the weekend we won Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan – BIG NUMBERS – Complete destruction of a very weak opponent. The really big numbers will come on Super Tuesday. Also, WAY UP ON CROOKED JOE!”
“Birdbrain is a loser, record low performance in virtually every State,” Trump continued, noting that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “easily beat her” while he was still in the race.
“I enjoy watching the Bird disavow her PLEDGE to the RNC and her statement that she would NEVER run against President Trump (‘A great President’),” he added. “Well, she ran, she lied, and she LOST BIG!”
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