Multiple news outlets have projected former Vice President Joe Biden will be the winner of the South Carolina Democratic primary.
President Trump responded to Biden’s presumptive victory on Twitter shortly after voting in South Carolina closed at 7pm, and said the results reveal that it’s time for billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former three-term mayor of New York City, to drop out of the Democratic primary.
“Sleepy Joe Biden’s victory in South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg’s Joke of a campaign,” said Trump. “After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!”
Sleepy Joe Biden’s victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg’s Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2020
According to CNN, Bloomberg, who decided not to compete in the first four voting states of the Democratic primary, including South Carolina, entered the race back in November after concluding that none of the declared candidates would be capable of beating Trump in a general election, sources close to the former mayor told the news agency last year.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale also weighed in on the South Carolina results: “We don’t know who the eventual nominee will be, but they are all the same, and their radical big government socialist policies will be on the Democrat ballot in November no matter what,” said Parscale, reports AZ Central.
During a post-election tweet, Biden announced that his South Carolina performance was a rebuke to the people who had declared his candidacy to be dead.
“Thank you, South Carolina! To all those who have been knocked down, counted out, and left behind — this is your campaign. Together, we will win this nomination and beat Donald Trump,” said Biden.
Thank you, South Carolina! To all those who have been knocked down, counted out, and left behind — this is your campaign. Together, we will win this nomination and beat Donald Trump.
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 1, 2020
After Biden’s tweet, Elana Firscht, a digital strategist for the Biden campaign, revealed on Twitter that the campaign had entered the “best hour of fundraising the campaign has” had throughout the entire election cycle.
Shortly after Biden’s projected victory, establishment Democrats began coming to the defense of the former vice president – who had never won a single primary or caucus before today, even though he has run for president three times – presumably in an effort to prevent Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) from running away with the nomination.
According to NBC, minutes after Biden was projected as the victor of the South Carolina primary, former Virginia Governor Terry McAulliffe told CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper that he was ready to endorse Biden.
“I’ve thought long and hard about this,” said McAulliffe. “For me, it’s about beating Donald Trump, and to me it’s an electability issue – who has the best shot at beating Donald Trump.”
The news agency reports that McAulliffe’s endorsement follows several other high-profile Democrats’ decision to endorse Biden earlier this week, including former vice presidential nominee Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC).
During NPR’s live coverage of the South Carolina primary, former Governor Jim Hodges (D-SC) told the news agency that Sanders’ performance among black voters, thus far, indicates that the Vermont senator cannot serve as the Democratic nominee.
According to the Associated Press, Sanders will finish the South Carolina primary in second place, and is scheduled to appear tonight in Virginia, one of the 14 states that will hold a primary this upcoming Tuesday.