Biden-Trump rematch looks certain after Super Tuesday votes
The US presidential election looks all but certain to be a repeat of the 2020 poll, with Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump both sweeping to victory in nomination contests across the country.
US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump swept to victory in statewide nomination contests on Tuesday, setting up a historic rematch in November’s election, Sky News reported.
On a day traditionally dubbed Super Tuesday – when the most states choose who they think should be candidates – both virtually secured the nomination from their respective parties.
Republican Trump won in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Minnesota and Virginia, brushing aside Nikki Haley, who only won Vermont.
Haley suspended her White House campaign Wednesday, declining to endorse former Trump but calling on him to earn the support of moderates and independents who backed her in the primary.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that,” Haley said in a televised address in Charleston, South Carolina.
Meanwhile, Biden appeared to win easily in 14 states but faced a sizeable protest vote in Minnesota where he still won. He lost in the US territory of American Samoa.
Despite their clear victories, a rematch between Trump, 77, and Biden, 81 – the first repeat US presidential matchup since 1956 – is one few Americans seem to want, based on opinion polls.
Speaking to a crowd gathered at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, Trump described the president as the “worst” the country has ever seen.
“There’s never been anything like what’s happening to our country,” he added, before wrongly adding 15 million people have crossed the southern border from Mexico to the US.
But Biden warned his rival – who is facing a litany of criminal charges, including interference in the 2020 election – is “determined to destroy our democracy”.