What happened?
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley won Washington, D.C.’s Republican primary on Sunday, beating former President Donald Trump 63% to 33%. It was Haley’s first victory over Trump, who won Saturday’s caucuses in Idaho and Missouri.
Who said what?
“It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos,” Haley’s campaign said. Trump said on Truth Social that he “purposely stayed away from the D.C. vote because it is the ‘Swamp,’ with very few delegates,” adding that “Birdbrain spent all of her time, money and effort there.”
The commentary
The Trump campaign predictably cried “swamp swamp swamp,” but a “whole lot of people who worked for Trump — who know him and his administration best — rejected him,” GOP strategist Doug Heye said in a post on X. D.C. was an important “symbolic win” for Haley, Reuters said, but she “still faces near-impossible odds.”
What next?
Haley earned 19 delegates in D.C., bringing her total to 43 of 1,215 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination. Trump has 247. Another 874 delegates are up for grabs in 15 states and one U.S. territory on Super Tuesday.