Former president Donald Trump dominated Super Tuesday and then pivoted to the general election in his victory speech, telling supporters at a rally that America will have a stark choice this fall when he faces the likely Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden.
“Nov. 5 is going to go down as the single most important day in the history of our country,” Trump said, referencing Election Day. He added, “We've watched our country take a great beating over the last three years.”
Trump’s only opponent in the Republican race, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the race Wednesday after winning one state, Vermont, but also watching Republican voters in 14 others opt for Trump. She did not endorse Trump, saying it’s up to him to “earn the votes” of Republicans and others who did not support him.
“I hope he does that,” she said.
Trump is trying to become the first president since Grover Cleveland in the 1800s to win a presidential race, lose a re-election campaign, and then win back the White House. On Super Tuesday he won at least 70 percent of the vote in nine states and dropped below 60 percent in only two states (Vermont and Utah) and possibly a third (Massachusetts, where he was at 59.9 percent with votes still being counted).
Biden also sailed through Super Tuesday on the Democratic side, winning all 15 states -- 13 of them with at least 80 percent of the vote -- and only losing the territory of American Samoa.
Biden, too, referenced the general election in a social media post.
“Today, millions of voters across the country made their voices heard -- showing that they are ready to fight back against Donald Trump’s extreme plan to take us backwards,” he said. “Every generation of Americans will face a moment when it has to defend democracy. This is our fight.”
Not since the 1950s has America had a rematch in a presidential election. Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and then beat him again in 1956. Cleveland was the last major party nominee to avenge a loss, losing to Benjamin Harrison in 1888 before beating Harrison in 1892.
General election polls show Trump and Biden neck and neck. Biden led in a Morning Consult survey released this week, while Trump led in a CBS News poll.
Trump could officially clinch the Republican nomination next week.
Trump, during his victory speech, focused on the border crisis, which is expected to be a major theme this fall. Democrats, he charged, “want open borders, and open borders are going to destroy our country. We need borders.”
“We’re going to take back our country,” he said.
Image credit: ©Getty Images / Brian Blanco / Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
