MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina — Former President Donald Trump is banking on a “gigantic” victory Saturday that would mark his fifth straight primary win and show of force that Trumpism has taken over the GOP.
Trump has defied the odds, facing 91 criminal charges but never trailing the GOP presidential field that at one point had a dozen challengers seeking to be the Republican nominee. A win Saturday over his last major competitor, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, would come with added symbolism of snuffing her out in her home state of South Carolina.
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Haley is a two-term former South Carolina governor who swept into office riding the tea party wave and then went on to join Trump’s Cabinet. She’s gone all in for her home state with campaign events, blanketing the airwaves following losses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to figures from AdImpact, Haley and her supporters spent $14 million in advertising in her home state, compared to the Trump campaign’s paltry $1.2 million in advertising.
Yet Trump, who is spending Saturday afternoon outside of Washington, D.C., speaking at CPAC, leads Haley 61.8% to 36.5% in the Palmetto State, according to a RealClearPolitics poll average.
While Haley has barnstormed South Carolina, Trump has opted for strategic rallies and sending in top campaign surrogates, including fellow Republican South Carolinian Sen. Tim Scott.
Most statewide lawmakers in the Palmetto State have publicly declared their allegiance to Trump in a major snub of Haley.
David Sandifer, 74, a former electrical contractor from Conway, South Carolina, said a Trump win in the Palmetto State is one of the final marks of Trump’s takeover of the GOP.
“It’s a big part of it. It’s almost done. I think Super Tuesday would be the final nail,” Sandifer said while dressed as a Trump impersonator who wore the classic blonde toupee while demonstrating across the street from a Haley rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
“He’s a man of his word. He does what he says he’s gonna do,” said Mike Donnelly, 64, a retired construction worker from Conway who held Trump signs across from Haley’s event. “And he proved that already.”

A Trump win in South Carolina is a wake-up call for the GOP, Donnelly said. “It’s the people. They work for us. This is the people. This is the person that we’re endorsing. This is what we want,” he added.
Trump has also pushed for three new leadership changes at the Republican National Committee in a bid that has rankled some committee members, who said Trump is not the presumptive nominee yet.
He has endorsed North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley to replace Ronna McDaniel as chairwoman of the RNC, along with tapping daughter-in-law Lara as RNC co-chairwoman and co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita for committee chief operating officer.
McDaniel is rumored to step down after Saturday’s primary following heavy pressure from Trump to do so.
Yet Haley and her supporters repeatedly claim the GOP needs an alternative to the scandal-plagued former president, who is facing 91 felony indictments. Trump is also battling two states, Colorado and Maine, that have barred him from the primary ballot, citing the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.
The Supreme Court has not decided whether Trump can be removed from the ballot.
“I think he’s a terrible person and an awful man,” said Joan Eccleston, 55, a Berkeley County, South Carolina, resident and Haley supporter who does not want her to drop out of the race if she loses to Trump on Saturday. “I hope she stays in hopefully, maybe something like he’ll die or something and she can become our presidential candidate. So that’s all I can hope for.”
After losing the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary to Trump in January, Haley claims her goal in her home state is simply to perform better than last time. It’s a tall order for Haley, who is trailing Trump by double digits.
A blowout loss would be humiliating for Haley in her “sweet” state of South Carolina.

But Haley claims she’s not intimidated by the negative projections. “The majority of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump, the majority of Americans disapprove of Joe Biden,” Haley said at a rally held at the 44 & King pub in Myrtle Beach.
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Her supporters are sticking by Haley in her intransigent defiance of Trump.
“If she does lose on Saturday, I think she should keep going,” said Ivonne Haddock, a retired teacher from Myrtle Beach who attended Haley’s rally on Thursday, “because you can never predict what’s going to happen with the former president in the court system. … We need somebody who’s fresh.”