Closing summary
Donald Trump and Joe Biden are set for a rematch in the November election, after Nikki Haley announced the end of her presidential campaign after being soundly defeated in coast-to-coast Super Tuesday contests. Haley declined to immediately endorse the former president as nearly all of his other Republican rivals did, instead challenging Trump to earn the support of her voters.
Joe Biden praised the “courage” he said Haley displayed in seeking the Republican nomination despite knowing it was likely to provoke the wrath of Trump and his most loyal supporters. By contrast, Donald Trump attacked her in a social media post, accusing his rival of drawing support from “Radical Left Democrats” and downplaying her sole win in Vermont.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, endorsed Donald Trump for president despite years of acrimony between the pair including Trump calling McConnell a “piece of shit” and using racist invective in attacks against his wife.
Dean Phillips, the Minnesota congressman running against Biden in the Democratic primary dropped out of the race, ending a long-shot bid to stop the US president from winning the nomination.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump largely cruised to easy victories on Super Tuesday. Biden won every contest except American Samoa, while Trump won everything except Vermont, where Haley scored a close surprise victory.
Biden faced his biggest challenge so far from an ongoing protest vote against his stance on the Israel-Gaza war. The “uncommitted” campaign is moving nationally to push Biden on the issue, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people, said he will not donate money to either Biden or Trump. His statement came after reports that Musk met with Trump in Florida over the weekend.
TheUS supreme court has scheduled argument hearings surrounding Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution in his involvement in the 2020 presidential overturn efforts.
Updated
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has defended his decision to endorse Donald Trump for president despite years of acrimony, including Trump calling McConnell a “piece of shit” and attacking his wife in racist terms.
Asked by a reporter how he reconciles his endorsement with the fact that he said Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the January 6 insurrection, McConnell replied:
February 25th, 2021, shortly after the attack on the Capitol, I was asked a similar question, and I said I would support the nominee for president even if it were the former president.
Sen. Min. Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), when asked about endorsing Trump despite blaming him for 1/6, Trump insulting him and his wife, and Trump's criminal cases:
— The Recount (@therecount) March 6, 2024
"I said I would support the nominee ... even if it were the former president. ... I don't have anything to add." pic.twitter.com/bjQGfbjBCQ
Updated
Trump calls for debates with Biden 'anytime, anywhere'
Donald Trump has called for debates with Joe Biden on issues that are “vital to America, and the American people”.
In a post on his TruthSocial platform, Trump said:
It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People. Therefore, I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!
Updated
Biden and Trump vie for Haley voters as rematch confirmed
As Nikki Haley announced the end to her presidential campaign and effectively ceded the 2024 Republican nomination to Donald Trump, the fight to win over her supporters began.
The former South Carolina governor and Trump’s UN ambassador did not endorse her former boss during her speech on Wednesday, instead saying that it was up to him to “earn” the support of her voters. Whether Haley will endorse him is now a central campaign question for Trump.
Both Joe Biden and Trump quickly released statements calling on Haley voters to join their team – although using very different language. While Biden praised Haley for “speaking the truth” about Trump, Trump said he had “trounced” her in the Super Tuesday contests. Following her speech announcing her exit from the race, Trump’s campaign in a fundraising email falsely claimed that Haley had endorsed his candidacy.
Despite enduring a long string of losses, exit polls showed Haley’s strength among suburban women and independents – key constituencies in a general election that she warned Trump was continuing to alienate. A sizable share of her supporters – and Republican voters more broadly – say they would not vote for a candidate convicted of a crime.
Nearly 570,000 voters in the key battleground states of Nevada, North Carolina and Michigan voted for Haley, Reuters reported, a small but potentially significant group in races that have been decided by tiny margins in recent elections.
A group that had targeted independents and Democrats to vote for Haley over Trump in Republican primaries is now pushing those voters to back Biden in November.
Updated
A group of House Democrats have warned Joe Biden that an anticipated Israeli invasion of Rafah could violate the US’s conditions on sending military aid to Israel.
More than three dozen House Democrats have sent a letter to the White House writing that a Rafah invasion “would likely contravene” principles outlined in a memo Biden signed last month that US military aid be used in accordance with international law, Axios reported. The letter reads:
While we continue to urge Israel to avoid an expanded operation in Rafah, we share your obvious concern about the absence of a credible plan for the safety and support of the more than one million civilians sheltering in Rafah.
The Biden administration has faced growing calls from Democrats to push Israel to ease the devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with some saying they may try to stop military assistance if conditions for civilians do not improve, Reuters reported.
Supreme court sets Donald Trump immunity argument for 25 April
The supreme court has scheduled argument hearings surrounding Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution in his involvement in the 2020 presidential overturn efforts.
The supreme court has scheduled the hearing for 25 April, the last day of hearings for this court term.
Last Wednesday, the supreme court agreed to hear the former president’s claims that he cannot be prosecuted for his efforts in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The supreme court’s decision to hear his claims comes after a federal appeals court in February categorically rejected Trump’s claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution.
The supreme court’s decision to hear Trump’s claims marks the court’s direct entry into the 2024 presidential election, and will potentially determine whether Trump will go to trial prior to election day on 5 November.
JUST IN: SCOTUS schedules Trump immunity oral argument for April 25—the last day of hearings this term pic.twitter.com/qVTcqZVz77
— Steven Mazie (@stevenmazie) March 6, 2024
Updated
CodePink, a feminist and anti-war advocacy organization, is urging voters to plan a “sit in” in Nancy Pelosi’s office on the eve of International Women’s Day to “expose her faux feminism”.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the group, along with Mothers and Daughters Against Genocide, said that they are targeting the former House speaker because “she has the power and position to lead on women’s rights and be a true champion for reproductive justice; however, she instead chooses to support and fund the genocide in Gaza.”
They went on to add:
The group will be there to point out her blatant feminist hypocrisy and her silence and complicity regarding the US-supported genocide in Gaza. The group’s demands for the women of Congress to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to US funding and military assistance to Israel, and to restore funding the UNRWA for the continuation of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Earlier this year, Pelosi, who has repeatedly expressed support for Israel, faced backlash after she condemned pro-ceasefire supporters by accusing them of having ties to Russia and spreading “Mr Putin’s message”.
Since 7 October, Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, the majority being women and children. Numerous UN agencies have warned of the increasing dangers faced by Palestinian women amid the humanitarian crisis, including malnutrition, lack of food security, and gender-based violence, among other risks.
Updated
'Uncommitted' campaign wins 11 Democratic delegates in Minnesota
Grassroots organizations’ attempts to push for an “uncommitted” vote in Minnesota have manifested in the allocation of 11 national delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer Labor Party (DFL) announced that Joe Biden won 64 of the 75 delegates that were at stake in the DFL presidential primary while uncommitted won 11 delegates.
Since last October, grassroots organizations across the country have been urging voters to vote “uncommitted” in protest against Biden’s support for Israel.
Last month, over 100,000 voters in Michigan voted “uncommitted”, marking 13.2% of the state’s Democratic primary.
The increasing pushes for “uncommitted” votes come amid a horrifying humanitarian crisis in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed over 30,000 Palestinians since last October while forcibly displacing approximately 2 million survivors.
Moreover, with the Biden administration repeatedly bypassing Congress to approve the sale of weapons to Israel, many young, Arab American and Muslim voters across the country have become disenchanted with the Democratic president and his “inept” outreach.
Updated
Liz Cheney, former Republican congresswoman and fierce Donald Trump critic, is urging supporters to join The Great Task, a Super Pac she is sponsoring which is “focused on reverence for the rule of law [and] respect for our constitution”.
In a tweet on Wednesday following Nikki Haley’s announcement of her 2024 presidential race dropout, Cheney wrote:
The GOP has chosen. They will nominate a man who attempted to overturn an election and seize power. We have eight months to save our republic and ensure Donald Trump is never anywhere near the Oval Office again. Join me in the fight for our nation’s freedom.
The GOP has chosen. They will nominate a man who attempted to overturn an election and seize power. We have eight months to save our republic & ensure Donald Trump is never anywhere near the Oval Office again. Join me in the fight for our nation’s freedom. https://t.co/V4otPCFdY6
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) March 6, 2024
With Haley’s dropout and Trump’s numerous victories on Super Tuesday, the rematch between Trump and Joe Biden in the upcoming general election is now set.
Updated
In California, several key races remain undecided.
Prop 1, a statewide ballot measure that California’s governor Gavin Newsom pushed as a way to tackle the mental health and homelessness crises, has a very slight lead with about 50% of votes counted. The measure, which would reallocate some of the state’s mental health funds toward housing and treatment centers for severe mental illness and substance abuse disorders, has been slammed by disability advocates because it could facilitate involuntary institutionalization. Local governments have also opposed the measure because it would effectively defund community-based preventive treatment programs.
In Los Angeles county, a highly contested district attorney race remains up in the air. The current progressive DA, George Gascón, was leading – followed closely by a slew of opponents looking to undo his reforms. They including Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and deputy district attorney Jonathan Hatami. The top two vote getters will advance to the November election.
LA’s city council races will also be interesting to watch. Kevin De León, an incumbent who along with two other council members was secretly recorded making racist and disparaging remarks about constituents and colleagues, was leading ahead of seven opponents. After the scandal broke in 2022, even Joe Biden had called for León and two others to step down from the city council.
Several key House races remain unclear. In California’s 22nd district, in the state’s Central Valley, incumbent Republican David Valdado has the lead followed by Democrat Rudy Salas. But Republican Chris Mathys is in third place. The top two vote-getters will advance – and Democrats are worried that state senator Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat trailing in fourth, would split voters, leading to two Republicans advancing to the general.
In southern California’s 47th district, Republican Scott Baugh and Democratic state senator Dave Min were leading in early returns to fill the seat being vacated by Katie Porter (who lost her bid for the US senate).
And in the coastal 49th district, incumbent Democrat Mike Levin has advanced to the November ballot, but it’s unclear who he’ll face. This is a district that Republicans are hoping to flip, and Republican Matt Gunderson, an auto dealer, appeared to be leading among the challengers.
Updated
Dean Phillips ends presidential campaign, endorses Biden
Dean Phillips has suspended his campaign for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, ending his long-shot primary challenge against Joe Biden.
Phillips, in a radio interview on Wednesday, said:
I’m going to suspend my campaign and I will be, right now, endorsing President Biden because the choices are so clear.
In a social media post, the Minnesota congressman said it was “clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate”, adding:
I ask you join me in mobilizing, energizing, and doing everything you can to help keep a man of decency and integrity in the White House. That’s Joe Biden.
In 2011, I hosted then VP Biden at my home. Most notable was his empathy and kindness to my daughters and the catering staff, with whom he sat and had ice cream (surprise-surprise). His decency and wisdom were rarities in politics then, and even more so today.
— Dean Phillips (@deanbphillips) March 6, 2024
Over a decade… pic.twitter.com/CN19pFqitE
Updated
Interim summary
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Nikki Haley ended her presidential campaign after being soundly defeated in coast-to-coast Super Tuesday contests, in effect ceding the 2024 Republican nomination to Donald Trump. Haley declined to immediately endorse the former president as nearly all of his other Republican rivals did, instead she challenged Trump to earn the support of her voters.
Joe Biden praised the “courage” he said Haley displayed in seeking the Republican nomination despite knowing it was likely to provoke the wrath of Trump and his most loyal supporters. By contrast, Donald Trump attacked her in a social media post, accusing his rival of drawing support from “Radical Left Democrats” and downplaying her sole win in Vermont.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, endorsed Donald Trump for president despite years of acrimony between the pair including Trump calling McConnell a “piece of shit” and using racist invective in attacks against his wife.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump largely cruised to easy victories on Super Tuesday. Biden won every contest except American Samoa, while Trump won everything except Vermont, where Haley scored a close surprise victory.
Biden faced his biggest challenge so far from an ongoing protest vote against his stance on the Israel-Gaza war. The uncommitted campaign is moving nationally to push Biden on the issue, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people, said he will not donate money to either Biden or Trump. His statement came after reports that Musk met with Trump in Florida over the weekend. Musk’s announcement does not rule out his support for either Trump or Biden in ways other than a direct donation, as he could donate to a Super Pac or group that benefits either candidate.
Adam Schiff, the centrist Democratic congressman and longtime Trump antagonist, was declared the first-place winner to fill the California seat held by the late US senator Dianne Feinstein. He will face off with Republican Steve Garvey, a former professional baseball player, in November. It means that for the first time in more than three decades, California won’t have a woman in the Senate.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican congresswoman, Trump ally and potential vice-presidential pick told a British interviewer to “Fuck off”, when asked about her frequent repetition of conspiracy theories.
The Republican-led Kentucky senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to grant the right to collect child support for fetuses, advancing a bill that garnered bipartisan support despite nationwide fallout from a controversial Alabama decision also advancing “fetal personhood”.
The measure would allow a parent to seek child support up to a year after giving birth to retroactively cover pregnancy expenses. The legislation – Senate Bill 110 – won senate passage on a 36-2 vote with little discussion to advance to the House. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.
The Republican state senator Whitney Westerfield said afterward that the broad support reflects a recognition that pregnancy carries with it an obligation for the other parent to help cover the expenses incurred during those nine months. Westerfield is a staunch abortion opponent and sponsor of the bill.
“I believe that life begins at conception,” Westerfield said while presenting the measure to his colleagues.
But even if you don’t, there’s no question that there are obligations and costs involved with having a child before that child is born.
The debate comes amid the backdrop of a recent Alabama supreme court ruling that frozen embryos are legally protected “extrauterine children”, which spotlighted the anti-abortion movement’s longstanding goal of giving embryos and fetuses legal and constitutional rights that are on par with or even competing against those of the people carrying them.
These kinds of protections, if enacted, could rewrite vast swaths of US law, including undermining in vitro fertilization (IVF).
A Super Pac that encouraged Democrats and independents to cast primary votes for Nikki Haley is now urging Haley voters to support Joe Biden.
Primary Pivot is becoming Haley Voters for Biden, with a focus on reaching Haley primary voters in Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia.
A statement from the group’s co-founder Robert Schwartz, shared by Semafor, says:
This is an effort from people who have actually supported Nikki Haley to try to guide as many of them as possible toward the candidate that respects democracy, even if they may disagree with him politically.
Hillary Clinton has downplayed concerns about Joe Biden’s age, arguing that he and Donald Trump are “effectively the same age.”
In a post on social media, Clinton, 76, wrote:
When you’re lucky to live into your seventies or eighties, the difference of a few years doesn’t matter all that much. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are effectively the same age. Let’s use that as a baseline.
When you're lucky to live into your seventies or eighties, the difference of a few years doesn't matter all that much. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are effectively the same age. Let's use that as a baseline.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 6, 2024
So this week, it's become clear the choice for this November is between… pic.twitter.com/el65gxRT1M
Trump falsely claims Haley endorsed his candidacy
Donald Trump has falsely claimed in a fundraising email that Nikki Haley endorsed his candidacy.
During a speech this morning announcing her decision to withdraw from the race, Haley declined to immediately endorse the former president as nearly all of his other Republican rivals did. Instead she challenged Trump to earn the support of her voters, calling it his “time for choosing”.
Haley had previously pledged to the Republican National Committee that she would support the eventual nominee. But she recently said she no longer felt bound by the commitment after Trump’s campaign moved aggressively to assume control over the organization despite her continued presence in the race.
Shocking that the Trump campaign would just straight up lie. pic.twitter.com/eiVtpTER0L
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) March 6, 2024
Taylor Swift took time out on Super Tuesday to implore her fans to vote in the 2024 primary elections for “the people who most represent YOU into power”.
Swifties around the globe, who have been waiting with bated breath for the pop sensation to speak out during this tumultuous political cycle, had mixed responses to the Instagram Story. One person wrote on X:
I love Taylor Swift for still encouraging people to vote especially young people, but if she can do this – she can speak on a genocide right???!
Another person wrote:
WOW: Taylor Swift has officially begun interfering in the 2024 election. She tells her young female fans to vote the candidate that ‘most represents you into power’.
Historically, Swift has been cautious about dipping her toes into political discourse. It remains unclear if Swift will use her platform this year to do more than tell her fans to vote, but there is certainly an appetite for her to do so – and an appetite for her to keep quiet.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has moved to appeal to Nikki Haley’s supporters, echoing Joe Biden’s comments that Donald Trump has “made it clear” that he does not want her supporters.
A statement from DNC Chair Jaime Harrison reads:
In the twilight of her campaign, as it became clear that Donald Trump’s MAGA base was sticking with the original, Nikki Haley began to call out Trump as the dangerous, pathetic loser he is. Trump has made it clear that he does not want Nikki Haley’s supporters – and her supporters know Trump failed the American people and that he would go even further to rip away our rights and tear down our democracy if given the chance. For them, there is only one candidate left in this race who’s proven he has what it takes to beat Donald Trump: Joe Biden.
Elon Musk says he won't donate money to Trump or Biden
Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people, has said he will not donate money to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
Musk said in a post on his social media site X:
Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President.
Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2024
Musk’s announcement does not rule out his support for either Trump or Biden in ways other than a direct donation, as he could donate to a Super Pac or group that benefits either candidate.
His statement came after reports that Musk met with Trump in Florida over the weekend as the former president seeks a major cash infusion for his re-election campaign. According to the New York Times, Trump met with Musk and a number of wealthy Republican donors on Sunday.
Musk had previously suggested in social media posts that he is opposed to Biden. The South African-born billionaire entrepreneur has long sought to cast himself as politically independent but has previously stated that he voted for Biden in 2020. Since then however, he has criticised the president and clashed with his administration.
Nikki Haley’s campaign spokesperson, Olivia Perez-Cubas, has pointed out the difference between statements by Joe Biden and Donald Trump following Haley’s decision to withdraw from the presidential primary race.
“A tale of two statements…,” she writes.
A tale of two statements… https://t.co/g3gQes4YPs
— Olivia PC (@olivia_pc) March 6, 2024
Far-right Republican congresswoman, Trump ally and potential vice-presidential pick Marjorie Taylor Greene told a British interviewer to “Fuck off”, when asked about her frequent repetition of conspiracy theories.
Emily Maitlis, formerly a senior journalist at the BBC and now a presenter of the News Agents podcast, spoke to Greene at Donald Trump’s Super Tuesday celebration at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, as the former president closed in on the Republican nomination. Maitlis asked:
Could you tell me why so many people that support Donald Trump love conspiracy theories, including yourself?
Greene said:
Well, let me tell you, you’re a conspiracy theorist and the left and the media spreads more conspiracy theories. We like the truth. We like supporting our constitution, our freedoms and America first.
Raising a famous instance of the congresswoman’s eager conspiracy theorising, concerning what she thought was to blame for starting forest fires, Maitlis said:
What about Jewish space lasers? Tell us about Jewish space lasers.
“No,” Greene said.
Why don’t you go talk about Jewish space lasers and really, why don’t you fuck off? How about that?
"Emily, you're a conspiracy theorist... We like the truth."
— The News Agents (@TheNewsAgents) March 6, 2024
Why did Marjorie Taylor Greene tell @maitlis to fuck off? 🤬
Coming to @GlobalPlayer pic.twitter.com/Ye6momF7Jx
Here’s a clip from Nikki Haley’s speech as she announced the suspension of her presidential campaign.
The decision came after she was routed on Super Tuesday, with an overwhelming majority of Republicans opting for the former president, dashing her hopes to represent the GOP later this year.
Speaking at a press conference in her home state of South Carolina, Haley said:
It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support it. And I hope he does that.
As Nikki Haley announced she was withdrawing from the presidential primary race, Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social platform that Haley got “trounced” on Super Tuesday.
Trump wrote:
Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries. Much of her money came from Radical Left Democrats, as did many of her voters, almost 50%, according to the polls.
Haley’s victory in the Republican primary in Vermont was her second of 2024, after also winning the District of Columbia. Vermont has an open primary system, which allows any registered voter to participate in the Republican nominating contest.
Trump added:
At this point, I hope she stays in the “race” and fights it out until the end! I’d like to thank my family, friends, and the Great Republican Party for helping me to produce, by far, the most successful Super Tuesday in HISTORY, and would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation.
Mitch McConnell endorses Trump for president
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
McConnell, who was the last top Senate GOP leadership figure not to have endorsed Trump, declared his support in a short statement which said:
It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.
Updated
Republican National Committee congratulates Trump on becoming presumptive nominee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has released a statement congratulating Donald Trump on becoming “the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States”.
A statement from RNC chair Ronna McDaniel congratulated Trump on his “huge” primary victory, and paid tribute to Nikki Haley for running a “hard-fought” campaign and becoming “the first woman to win a Republican presidential primary contest”. The statement goes on:
President Trump once delivered a booming economy, secure border, energy independence, and America’s strength on the world stage, the exact opposite of the chaos created by Joe Biden.
Republican voters have spoken loud and clear with historically large margins and we are more united than ever to beat Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot in November.
Biden appeals to Haley supporters: 'There is a place for them in my campaign'
Joe Biden has applauded Nikki Haley for being “willing to speak the truth” about Donald Trump “where so few dare” in today’s Republican party.
In a statement, Biden said it “takes a lot of courage to run for president”, and noted that Haley spoke about “the chaos that always follows [Trump], about the inability to see right from wrong, about his cowering before Vladimir Putin.” The statement continues:
Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign.
I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to American’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.
'I wish him well': Nikki Haley does not endorse Trump in speech
Nikki Haley has said it is up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in the Republican party and beyond it, adding that she hopes that he will do so.
Speaking from her home state of South Carolina, Haley said “in all likelihood” that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee, adding:
I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America’s president.
She went on to reference Margaret Thatcher, saying:
Thatcher provided some good advice when she said, never just follow the crowd. Always make up your own mind. It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support it. And I hope he does that.
Updated
Nikki Haley suspends presidential campaign
Nikki Haley has announced she is withdrawing from the Republican presidential campaign.
Haley made the announcement as she delivered remarks in Charleston, South Carolina. She said her decision to run for president was “grounded in my love for our country”, adding:
I am filled with the gratitude for the outpouring of support we’ve received from all across our great country, but the time has now come to suspend my campaign.
She said she would not stop “using my voice for the things I believe”, adding:
Our world is on fire because of America’s retreat. Standing by our allies in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is a moral imperative. But it’s also more than that. If we retreat further, there will be more war, not less.
Updated
Nikki Haley to deliver remarks in South Carolina
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is due to speak at 10am ET (1500 GMT) in Charleston, South Carolina, where she is expected to announce that she is withdrawing from the Republican presidential race.
Haley is not intending to endorse Donald Trump in her announcement, according to reports. Instead, she is expected to urge him to earn the support of the coalition of moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.
Haley lost 14 out of the 15 Super Tuesday contests to Trump.
A Donald Trump-allied Super Pac has congratulated him after news that Nikki Haley plans to suspend her presidential campaign later today.
A statement by Make America Great Again Inc group, known as MAGA Inc, reported by CNN, says:
Congratulations to President Donald Trump for vanquishing his opponents in record time. The same movement that powered President Trump to a primary victory will power him to a general election victory. Voters are eager to have the prosperity and safety of the Trump presidency restored.
Super Tuesday also showed that majorities of Americans are deeply dissatisfied with their options: 81-year-old Joe Biden and Donald Trump, his 77-year-old predecessor who is facing 91 felony counts and suggested he would act as a dictator for a day.
Polls consistently show voters disapprove of both Biden and Trump.
A new survey by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that the majority of Americans believe neither candidate has the mental acuity to serve as president for another four years.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump swept to victory in states across the US on Super Tuesday, but the biggest night of the primary season exposed glaring weaknesses in both candidates’ electoral coalitions.
Tens of thousands of Democrats furious with Biden over his unequivocal support for Israel’s war in Gaza voted for the ballot line “uncommitted” or “no preference” in Minnesota, Massachusetts and elsewhere on Tuesday, yet another sign of the fraying alliances between the president and several key constituencies that helped bring him to power in 2020.
Trump’s rival, Nikki Haley, continued to draw sizable support from voter blocs that will play a critical role in the November general election. She has generally performed well in suburbs and college towns, and many of her voters say they are unlikely to support Trump in November.
Campaigning across the country, Haley had warned Republicans that Trump is a risky standard-bearer who will cost the party the White House, the US House and possibly even the Senate. The message has resonated with the small but significant segment of the party that wants to turn the page on Trump. She raised $12m in February and earned the endorsement of two moderate Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
On Tuesday, Haley bested Trump in Vermont, a Democratic state that elected a moderate Republican governor in 2016, while claiming a handful of delegates in Virginia, where again she ran strong in the suburban counties with large shares of college graduates and young people. She was the top choice of independent voters and college graduates in the state’s GOP primary there, according to CNN exit polls – and just 26% of GOP primary voters who cast their ballots for Haley said they would support the party’s nominee regardless of who wins.
Updated
Kamala Harris is headed to the swing state of Wisconsin today for an event touting worker apprentice programs, as she and Joe Biden struggle to convince voters to give them more credit for US economic strength.
Harris will make a stop in Madison, a college town filled with young voters critical to Biden and Harris’s re-election efforts, to talk about apprenticeship programs and “good-paying union jobs,” the White House said.
Wisconsin is one of just a handful of battleground states in the presidential election. Biden won the state in 2020 by less than 1% of votes; in 2016 Wisconsin supported Donald Trump.
The White House said Harris will highlight the Biden administration’s commitment to registered apprenticeship programs and creating high-paying union jobs.
Gaza ceasefire protest vote gains traction in US
A protest vote against Joe Biden gained more traction around the country on Super Tuesday as voters in several states sought to send a message to the Democratic president to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
A smattering of Super Tuesday states – Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Tennessee – had an option on the Democratic ballot where voters could decide not to commit to a specific candidate. These options included “uncommitted”, “noncommitted delegate” and “no preference”.
In Minnesota, about 19% of voters chose “uncommitted”, far more than chose Dean Phillips, the congressman from that state who is challenging Biden in the primary. Minnesota’s campaign was seen as the most likely to bring in more votes because the state has a large Muslim population, high voter turnout and a progressive left, all factors that could help it get more people to send a protest vote.
The uncommitted campaign is moving nationally to push Biden on the ceasefire issue. This weekend, Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” for six weeks. But organizers in the movement have called for a permanent ceasefire and seen temporary measures as a half-step to try to assuage the Democratic base.
Read the full story here: Gaza ceasefire protest vote gains traction in US on Super Tuesday
Updated
Super Tuesday is so vast that there were primaries for more than one-quarter of all seats in the House of Representatives – 115 of 438.
But only eight of those seats are likely to be competitive in the November general election, AP reports.
Most House candidates who won primaries on Tuesday are guaranteed seats in Congress, just for securing the votes of the most motivated members of their parties, the outlet writes, citing Michael Li, a redistricting expert at the Brennan Institute for Justice in New York.
Biden campaign: Trump is a 'wounded, dangerous and unpopular' candidate
Joe Biden’s campaign team have described former US president Donald Trump as “wounded, dangerous and unpopular” in the wake of the Super Tuesday results, which saw both men almost certainly secure an election re-match in November. With Nikki Haley set to bow out of the race later today, and Biden virtually unopposed, his campaign team issued a memo which said:
The results of last night’s Super Tuesday contests cemented what we have known for some time now: Donald Trump limps into the general election as a wounded, dangerous and unpopular candidate.
The Republican nominee is cash-strapped, beleaguered by a host of external issues, and is running on an extreme agenda that is already proving to be a significant liability for key voting blocs that are critical to the pathway to 270 electoral votes.
Building off of last night’s momentum, tomorrow evening’s State of the Union address will provide the American people with the latest example of the stark choice they will be confronted with in November between president Biden, who remains laser-focused on delivering for the American people while running on a historically popular record of accomplishment, and Donald Trump, whose failed record and dark vision for this country is as dangerous as it is unpopular with the voters who will decide this election.
The road to victory is about earning, not just asking for, the American people’s support. That means putting in the work in every community, meeting voters where they are about the stakes of this election, and investing everywhere.
We are confident that the President and vice-president’s vision for unity, freedom, and progress will again defeat Donald Trump’s extremist, dangerous agenda this November.
The Democratic party in Hawaii is scheduled to vote later today on their party’s nominee for the president.
AP quotes Adrian Tam, the interim chairperson of the Democratic party of Hawaii, saying:
The American people really do have confidence in President Biden’s leadership. So, as expected, he does have the upper hand when it comes to our upcoming caucus.
He added “It’s your civic duty” to participate.
Hawaii will send 22 pledged delegates to the party’s national convention in August. In-person voting is scheduled to start at 6pm and last until 8pm.
Osita Nwanevu writes for the Guardian today cautioning that Joe Biden and the Democrats are sleepwalking into a potential Trump win. Here is an excerpt:
All told, we have every reason to believe that the hole Joe Biden is in is real, as unfair as it might seem to his supporters. As rosily as they might evaluate his record in office so far, it looks substantially more mixed now than it did six months ago. It’s true that the economy is roaring by all available macroeconomic metrics and that Democrats under Biden have managed to pass the most expansive domestic policy agenda of any president since at least Lyndon Johnson.
But it’s also true that voters have been stung by high prices and interest rates, as well as the expiration of pandemic relief programs. Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was brave and laudable – both morally and strategically overdue. But he was hammered for it in the press and now faces a progressive insurrection over the US’s support for Israel’s inhumane offensive in Gaza so severe that the campaign is reportedly reducing large in-person events to avoid protesters.
And on immigration, still at the front of mind for many voters, Biden has functionally conceded that Trump has been right about the state of the border; while immigrants are less prone to crime than the native-born population and substantially responsible for the economic boom we’re experiencing, Democrats are trying their best to outflank the right on border security and asylum, to little effect thus far, rather than countering the racist myths Trump has propagated directly and focusing on a positive immigration reform agenda.
Read more here: Osita Nwanevu – Biden and the Democrats are sleepwalking into a potential Trump win
Jared Gans at The Hill has this snap assessment of Nikki Haley’s bid to secure the Republican nomination for president, which is expected to end today. He wrote:
Haley pitched herself as the best opportunity to move on from the former president, whom she attacked during the race on various issues, like the rising national debt during his presidency and his foreign policy stances.
She also criticized the “chaos” she said followed Trump, and called for a new generation of leaders to move on from both him and President Biden. She repeatedly pointed to polling that showed her performing the strongest against Biden in a hypothetical general election matchup of all the top Republican presidential candidates.
Haley had several strong debate performances in which audiences appeared to view her as at least one of the winners. But she could not rally enough support to stop Trump from taking both of the first two states – Iowa and New Hampshire – to vote to give herself a needed boost to potentially stop his nomination.
Reuters is also reporting that “a source familiar with the matter” has confirmed to it that Nikki Haley will be announcing she is stepping down from the presidential race later today, but declined to make any further comment.
Last night, Nikki Haley’s campaign had been attempting to remain upbeat, even as Donald Trump cruised to victory in 14 of the 15 Republican primaries taking place.
Rather than making public appearances, Haley was with staff near her South Carolina home. “The mood is jubilant,” spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas had said. “There is lots of food and music.”
Perez-Cubas had gone on to say that the results showed the party was far from united, and that voters had serious concerns about another Donald Trump presidency.
“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united,’” she had said. “Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump. That is not the unity our party needs for success.”
Steve Peoples at AP notes that Haley’s departure would mark a painful blow to voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that play a pivotal role in general elections, but represent a minority of Republican primary voters.
Haley is now expected to announce at 10am ET (3pm GMT) that she is suspending her campaign to be president.
In its report claiming that sources familiar with the matter have told the Wall Street Journal that Nikki Haley is to pull out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, the paper offers a snap analysis, with John McCormick writing:
Haley was the first major candidate to challenge Trump for the nomination and the last to stand down, showing determination even as she came under significant attack by the former president and his supporters.
As she exits the race, it is hard to know whether Haley is part of the party’s future or a last gasp of more traditional Republicanism that favors a hawkish foreign policy, fiscal discipline and limited government.
The 52-year-old could still have a future in presidential politics, but her sharp criticism of Trump in the final two months of her campaign will likely make that challenging while he still has a hold on the party.
Super Tuesday was always seen as likely to make or break her campaign. She has lagged badly behind Donald Trump in Republican polling, and yesterday she won just 43 of the Republican delegates available, while Trump emerged with 764.
The state of the Republican nomination race
Nikki Haley to pull out of presidential race – reports
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nikki Haley is to pull out of the 2024 presidential election race. It says the candidate is expected to make a brief appearance at 10am ET (3pm GMT).
Haley has won only two primaries – the District of Columbia and Vermont – during her campaign.
Quoting “people familiar with her plans”, the paper reports:
Haley won’t announce an endorsement Wednesday, the people said. She will encourage Donald Trump, who is close to having the delegates needed to win the GOP nomination, to earn the support of Republican and independent voters who backed her.
She is expected to emphasize that she will continue to advocate for the conservative domestic and foreign policies she supports and caution against some of the dangers, such as isolationism and a lack of fiscal discipline, that she sees coming from Washington.
More details soon …
Updated
As George Chidi and Dani Anguiano reported earlier, the United States has not witnessed a primary campaign season with so little competitive tension since political primaries began to dominate the nomination process in the 1970s. Every race went the way of Joe Biden or Donald Trump as expected, with the exception of Nikki Haley taking Vermont, and Biden being defeated in American Samoa.
Neither the current president nor the former president secured the nomination of their respective parties yet, but both are likely to do so within the next two weeks.
A reminder that you can get all the results from the primaries across the US in our live results tracker.
David Smith was in Palm Beach, Florida for the Guardian to watch Donald Trump give his victory speech. Here is an extract from his analysis:
This was Trump as Eeyore. No balloons, no confetti, no parade of family members on stage and no mention of opponent Nikki Haley. No fun.
“Some people call it an experiment – I don’t call it an experiment,” Trump said of the United States. “I just say this is a magnificent place, a magnificent country, and it’s sad to see how far it’s come and gone … When you look at the depths where it’s gone, we can’t let that happen. We’re going to straighten it out. We’re going to close our borders. We’re going to drill baby drill.”
He has upended and inverted yet another political convention: optimism. Not for him Ronald Reagan’s morning in America or Bill Clinton’s place called Hope or Barack Obama’s yes, we can. Instead only murder, mayhem and total darkness.
If only he had still been running things, he lamented, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine, Israel would not have been attacked and Iran would be broke. Now inflation is “destroying the middle class, it’s destroying everything”.
“Our cities are being overrun with migrant crime, and that’s Biden migrant crime,” Trump grimaced. “But it’s a new category and it’s violent, where they’ll stand in the middle of the street and have fistfights with police officers. And if they did that in their countries from where they came, they’d be killed instantly. They wouldn’t do that. So the world is laughing at us. The world is taking advantage of us.”
Read more here: Trump’s Super Tuesday victory speech: grim visions of an American apocalypse
Trump wins Utah in final call of Super Tuesday
The AP declared Donald Trump the winner of Utah’s presidential caucuses, the last of the primary races to be called.
Long lines and technical difficulties beset the contest. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that:
The Republican party had urged caucus attendees to pre register through their website to make the checking process go smoothly. But chaos ensued Tuesday night, after digital systems crashed at multiple caucus locations. At several locations lack of internet slowed down and even stopped the process, leaving attendees stuck in long lines according to one Utah Republican source.
It quoted one organiser saying “when people come up, either their voter ID doesn’t seem to load even though they’ve been voting for a long time, or when we try to look them up by their name and address that’s not coming up either.”
Eventually vote counts began to be released in the early hours, with Trump outperforming Nikki Haley in yet another state.
The victory of Jason Palmer in the Democratic contest in American Samoa was one of few eye-catching moments on Super Tuesday. Palmer, a Maryland resident, said “I found out that I had won because my phone started blowing up with friends and campaign staffers texting me.”
Honored to announce my victory in the American Samoa presidential primary. Thank you to the incredible community for your support. This win is a testament to the power of our voices. Together, we can rebuild the American Dream and shape a brighter future for all #VoteJasonPalmer pic.twitter.com/Txf771rhtI
— Jason Palmer (@educationpalmer) March 6, 2024
He said he’d never visited the territory, but before the caucus had been “campaigning remotely, doing Zoom town halls, talking to people, listening to them about their concerns and what matters to them,” and ended up winning 51 of the 91 ballots cast.
Here is the answer to a question that has almost certainly crossed your mind while reading this: Who is Jason Palmer?
As is traditional with US voting, Associated Press has explained how it has called the primaries. The AP declared Donald Trump the winner in 14 states shortly after polls closed, with Trump leading Nikki Haley in some places by margins of three- or four-to-one. It declared Haley the winner in one state, where the contest was more competitive. It called Vermont’s primary at 10:30pm EST – nearly four hours after polls closed – after vote returns indicated she had opened a lead in the Democratic-leaning state that Trump would be unable to overcome.
Niall Stanage at The Hill has assessed his winners and losers from Super Tuesday. In the winners column he put Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Pro-Palestinian Democrats, Rep Adam Schiff and American Samoa. Of the latter he said “the tiny territory made its voice heard to an outsize degree for the second election cycle in a row”. It handed Biden his only defeat of the night.
For him the losers were Nikki Haley for whom “any lingering flame of hope was snuffed out, and Iowa Democrats, whose caucuses have gone from a first-in-the-nation contest to, Stanage says, creating “no ripples at all”. He also nominates “Excitement for the American public” saying yesterday was “a snooze”. He concludes:
The overall outcome was in no doubt at all – and the wins for Haley in Vermont and the hitherto-unknown Palmer in American Samoa did nothing to change the broader contours. This, in turn, underlines the main paradox of this year’s race. Biden and Trump are going to secure their party nominations with ease, yet polls indicate millions of Americans look at that prospect of a 2020 rematch with grim resignation.
If you missed it overnight, Rachel Leingang pulled together these five key takeaways from Super Tuesday. Here are the highlights:
The protest vote continues
Perhaps the biggest threat to Biden in the Democratic primary is coming from no one – or, rather, from a concerted effort by anti-war Democrats to issue a protest by urging voters to cast ballots for uncommitted or no preference options.
Biden and Trump is inevitable
Despite the hopes of many voters this election year, it’s going to be Trump and Biden redux in November – unless something non-electoral happens, like a prison sentence or health crisis.
What will last candidates standing do
Dropout announcements could come in the next few days from either side of the ticket.
Low turnout
Because of the lack of competition and lagging enthusiasm for Trump and Biden, voters don’t seem excited to head to the polls this primary season. Turnout has fallen below past races, though in some states, uncommitted campaigns newly energized those voters who might have stayed home.
Far-right machinations in the states
Alabama’s Republican voters chose not to closely challenge the abortion politics of their state’s highest jurists on Tuesday. And in North Carolina, Lt. Gov Mark Robinson captured about two-thirds of the Republican primary vote on Tuesday to win the nomination for governor. Robinson has made a litany of inflammatory public comments about race, gender, sexual orientation and religion, with repeated and particular attacks on Jews.
Read more of Rachel Leingang’s analysis here: Super Tuesday key takeaways: protest vote, low turnout and far-right machinations
Republican and Democratic delegates: as it stands after Super Tuesday
Sixteen states and one territory held presidential candidate contests yesterday on Super Tuesday.
In the Republican primary, 874 of 2,429 total delegates were up for grabs, and the winning candidate will ultimately need 1,215 delegates to capture the nomination.
In the Democratic contest, 1,421 delegates, representing roughly a third of all delegates, were be up for grabs on Super Tuesday, and Joe Biden will need 1,968 delegates to officially win the nomination.
Welcome and opening summary …
Super Tuesday may not have had the potential to shake up the race to be presidential nominee like in years gone by, but it did nevertheless throw up a few surprises. Here are the headlines …
Joe Biden and Donald Trump picked up easy victories across the US this Super Tuesday, racking up delegates as the prepare to face off in the November elections.
Biden and Trump won their respective primaries in California, Virginia, North Carolina, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado and Minnesota.
The two candidates sparred in statements and speeches after polls closed. While Biden warned that Trump was “determined to destroy democracy”, Trump leaned heavily into nativist rhetoric about migrants, falsely claiming US cities are “being overrun by migrant crime”.
Biden also saw an unusual loss – in American Samoa. In the US territory, little known candidate Jason Palmer garnered 51 votes to Biden’s 40.
Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Vermont – her second victory of 2024. Her campaign declined to signal next steps amid mounting pressure from within her own party to step out of the race.
A Hitler-quoting candidate, Mark Robinson, won the North Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary. He’ll will face Democrat Josh Stein in what is expected to be a heavily contested race in November.
In California, centrist Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican ex-baseball player Steve Garvey advanced in the open primary for US Senate. Garvey, who was initially seen as a long-shot candidate, was boosted by Schiff, whose ads focused on the Republican rather than fellow Democratic challengers Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.
It is Martin Belam with you for the next couple of hours. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
