Donald Trump has defeated Nikki Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary.
The result will further cement his grip on the race to be his party’s nominee for president.
Mr Trump claimed his fourth straight primary win on Saturday, handing an embarrassing loss to his last remaining major rival in her home state.
He went into the primary with a huge polling lead and the backing of the state’s top Republicans, including Senator Tim Scott.
In a speech following his victory, Mr Trump called the win “even bigger than we anticipated”.
“I’ve never seen the Republican Party as unified as it is right now,” Trump said, promising that if elected, “our country is going to be respected again, respected like never before”.
“So this is a fantastic evening. It’s an early evening, but a fantastic one,” he said.
Margin of Trump’s victory shows his grip on the party is tightening
His victory builds on the momentum he has picked up after victories in Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire.
Pic: Reuters
Ms Haley, who served as UN ambassador, had spent weeks crisscrossing the state that twice elected her governor warning that Mr Trump, who is 77 and faces four indictments, is too old and distracted to be president again.
She has repeatedly vowed to stay in the race even if she were to lose her home state, and reiterated that promise in a speech this evening.
The former governor also congratulated Mr Trump on his victory, but went on to criticise him and his approach to politics in her address.
“I’m a woman of my word,” Ms Haley said. “I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”
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She said that the roughly 40% of the vote she received in the New Hampshire primary and so far in South Carolina “is not some tiny group”, adding that voters on states yet to hold primaries have the right to a choice.
But she faces a tough road now as in all but one primary since 1980, the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to be the party’s nominee.
Ms Haley become noticeably more aggressive in her attacks on her rival in recent days, questioning Mr Trump’s mental ability and warning voters that he would lose November’s general election.
However her jibes have apparently made little impact on the Republican base, which is largely swinging behind the former president.
Whoever ultimately prevails between Mr Trump and Ms Haley is set for a battle with President Joe Biden in November.
