After polling as the national frontrunner for months, former Vice President Joe Biden collapsed in Iowa and New Hampshire, losing Nevada to Sen. Bernie Sanders by more than 20 percentage points. Biden is winning South Carolina , however, with exit polls suggesting that he is cruising to a landslide victory.
While it remains to be seen whether a victory in South Carolina will be enough for Biden to make a comeback, President Donald Trump is already weighing in on the race. Per The Hill , as soon as the Palmetto State was called for the former vice president, Trump took to Twitter to take aim at billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“Sleepy Joe Biden’s victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg’s Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!”
Bloomberg, who entered the presidential race in November, was not even on the ballot in South Carolina. The billionaire has skipped the early states, relying on some of his vast fortune to blast the national airwaves with advertisements, and apparently looking to win as many delegates as possible on Super Tuesday and later in the race.
Following news of Biden winning South Carolina, Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale stated that Trump is “the clear winner” of the Palmetto State primary, projecting confidence and arguing that the commander-in-chief will “wipe the floor” with whoever wins the Democratic nomination.
“The South Carolina results just prove what a hot mess the Democrat primaries are, as the field once again descends into chaos heading into Super Tuesday,” Parscale opined.
Winning South Carolina seems key for Biden, who — after failing to meet expectations in the first three states — is now looking for momentum ahead of Super Tuesday when 14 states will vote. Polling suggests that Sanders is favored to win more delegates than any of his competitors, mostly due to his formidable lead in California.
In the Golden State, according to a new poll from UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies conducted for The Los Angeles Times , Sanders is at 14 percent. Biden is in fifth place with eight percent support. Bloomberg is polling ahead of the former vice president at 12 percent.
In order to avoid a brokered convention, Sanders has to win more than 51 percent of the delegates. Winning California and amassing delegates on Super Tuesday could conceivably help him achieve that.