前总统唐纳德·特朗普轻松获胜在周六南卡罗来纳州的共和党初选中这让该州前州长妮基·黑利损失尤为惨重。
截至周六晚些时候，超过85%的预期选票已经清点完毕，特朗普获得了约60%的选票，而海利获得了39%的选票。根据538的平均民调数据，特朗普在初选前预计将以两位数的优势获胜，但失败的现实标志着海莉克服困难并获得党内提名的任何希望都遭遇了重大挫折。
“我知道40%不是50%，”她在选举之夜的讲话中承认，同时誓言继续在其他州开展竞选活动。
特朗普的胜利肯定会加剧人们对海莉应该暂停自己竞选的猜测。但正如她周六再次做的那样，她一再拒绝在3月初的超级星期二之前将她推出的努力，尽管用她自己的话说，她在那之后的未来仍不太明朗。
和其他提前投票获得提名的州一样，特朗普的胜利被掩盖了较小但持续存在的问题共和党选民在他的基础之外，他们在大选中可能很重要。
以下是南卡罗来纳州结果的三个要点。
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安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社
特朗普让海莉惨败
特朗普已经在爱荷华州和新罕布什尔州击败了黑利，而黑利在内华达州的初选中也输给了“以上所有人”，特朗普没有参加该州的党团会议。
但他在海莉的家乡州以如此大的优势获胜凸显了她在几个月来预测她在南卡罗来纳州的强劲表现后在赢得同胞方面的失败。
过去的母国损失已被证明是丧钟。例如，川普在佛罗里达州击败马尔科·卢比奥后，他暂停了2016年的总统竞选。
特朗普周六获胜的规模从他在投票结束后立即获胜的早期预测中显而易见。
“这真的比我们预期的要早一点。这是一场比我们预期的还要大的胜利。
“从来没有这样的精神，”他补充说。
海莉将何去何从?
在周六之前，海莉追赶特朗普的道路已经充满危险。现在更是如此。
新罕布什尔州的初选选民更具独立意识，而她的家乡南卡罗来纳州在爱荷华州的党团会议中以第三名的成绩遥遥领先，因此被认为最有可能(尽管相对不太可能)提前赢得初选。
相反，海莉现在在他们的每一场比赛中都输给了特朗普两位数。
接下来的主要竞争将在密歇根州进行，该州将于周二举行令人困惑的初选，并于3月2日举行全州大会。初选将产生16名代表，大会将产生39名代表。非共和党选民可以参加初选——海利强调了这一动态——但只有当选的共和党代表才能参加大会。
之后，36%的代表将在3月5日被称为“超级星期二”，届时15个州将同时投票。海莉曾表示，她可以扭转局面——但正如美国广播公司新闻政治主任里克·克莱因指出的那样，她的民调数字和各州的规定表明她不是真正的目标那一天的代表人数足以赶上特朗普。
这意味着黑利将面临更大的压力，要求她暂停竞选活动，以便共和党选民和党内官员能够在大选前的几个月内团结一致支持特朗普。但她坚持周六她不会去任何地方。
“在我们的共和党初选中，有大量选民表示他们想要一个替代方案，”她在败选后表示。
“我是一个说话算数的女人。当大多数美国人不赞成唐纳德·特朗普和乔·拜登时，我不会放弃这场斗争。南卡罗来纳州已经表态了。我们是第四个这样做的州。在接下来的10天里，另外21个州和地区将发表讲话。他们有权进行真正的选择，而不是只有一名候选人的苏联式选举。我有责任给他们这个选择，”她说。
然而，她最近暗示，她3月5日以后的未来并不确定。
“我们将一直坚持到超级星期二。这就是我所想的，”她周六早些时候说。
特朗普有理由与一些共和党人和解
南卡罗来纳州的结果无疑标志着对特朗普的积极消息。但这并不意味着这位前总统没有进步的空间。
该州略多于三分之一的共和党初选选民表示，如果特朗普最终被判91项刑事指控中的任何一项罪名成立，他将不再适合担任公职。找到退出轮询。(他否认所有不当行为。)
黑利还以微弱优势赢得了温和派，并在独立人士和大学毕业生中广受欢迎，这些群体一直是特朗普的选举痛处，而只有42%的初选选民认为自己是“MAGA运动的一部分”。
然而，根据出口民调，特朗普看到了其他人口统计数据的巨大优势。
初选选民认为他在11月的选举中比海利高出23个百分点，更多的选民表示他比海利拥有有效担任总统所需的身体和心理健康。
总的来说，在出口民调暗示他如何激励批评者的同时，他也在选民中表现出了更多的忠诚度。
93%的特朗普选民表示，他们主要投票给自己的候选人，而不是反对他的对手。在海莉的选民中，58%的人主要支持她，40%的人主要反对特朗普。
3 takeaways from the South Carolina primary and Trump's big win over Haley
Former President Donald Trump rompedin South Carolina's GOP primary on Saturday, dealing Nikki Haley, the state's former governor, a particularly painful loss.
With more than 85% of the expected votes counted as of late Saturday, Trump took about 60% compared to Haley's 39%. Trump had been projected to win by double digits before the primary, based on 538's polling average, but the reality of the defeat marks a significant setback to any hopes Haley had of defying the odds and clinching her party's nomination.
"I know 40% is not 50%," she acknowledged in election night remarks while vowing to continue campaigning in other states.
Trump's win is sure to ramp up speculation that Haley should suspend her own bid. But as she did again on Saturday, she has repeatedly rejected efforts to push her out before Super Tuesday in early March, though her future after that remains much less clear, in her own words.
And Trump's victory -- as in the other early voting states for the nomination -- maskedsmaller but persistent problemswith Republican voters outside his base who could be important in a general election.
Here are three takeaways from South Carolina's results.
Trump hands Haley a stinging defeat
Trump has already defeated Haley in Iowa and New Hampshire, while Haley also lost to "none of the above" in Nevada's primary, which Trump sat out in favor of winning the state's caucuses.
But his win in Haley's home state by such a big margin underscores how unsuccessful she was in winning over fellow South Carolinians after months of predicting a a strong performance there.
Past home-state losses have proven to be death knells. For instance, Sen. Marco Rubio suspended his 2016 presidential bid after Trump beat him in Florida.
The scale of Trump's win on Saturday was evident by the early projection of his victory, which came as soon as polls closed.
"That is really something this was a little sooner than we anticipated. It was an even bigger win than we anticipated," he said in his victory speech.
"There's never been a spirit like this," he added.
Where does Haley go from here?
Haley's path to catching Trump was already perilous before Saturday. It's even more so now.
New Hampshire, with its more independent-minded primary electorate, and South Carolina, her home state, were seen as offering the best -- if relatively unlikely -- chances for early primary wins after a distant third-place finish in Iowa's caucuses.
Instead, Haley has now lost to Trump by double digits in every one of their matchups.
The next major contests will be in Michigan, which is hosting a confusing primary on Tuesday and statewide convention on March 2. Sixteen delegates will be awarded in the primary, and 39 will be awarded in the convention. Non-Republican voters can participate in the primary -- a dynamic Haley has highlighted -- though only elected GOP delegates can partake in the convention.
After that, 36% of all delegates will be awarded on March 5, dubbed Super Tuesday, in which 15 states vote at once. Haley has said she could turn things around then -- but as ABC News Political Director Rick Klein noted, her poll numbers and the individual states' rulesshow she's not realistically targetingenough delegates on that day to catch up to Trump.
That means Haley will be subjected to increased pressure to suspend her campaign so that Republican voters and party officials can rally to Trump in the months before the general election. But she insisted Saturday she's not going anywhere.
"There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative," she said after her loss.
"I'm a woman of my word. I'm not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. South Carolina has spoken. We're the fourth state to do so. In the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice, not a Soviet-style election with only one candidate. And I have a duty to give them that choice," she said.
However, she recently suggested that her future beyond March 5 is not certain.
"We're going to keep going all the way through Super Tuesday. That's as far as I've thought," she said earlier on Saturday.
Trump has ground to make up with some Republicans
South Carolina's results undoubtedly mark positive news for Trump. But that doesn't mean there's no room for improvement for the former president.
Illustrating the potential weight of his legal troubles, slightly more than a third of the state's Republican primary voters said Trump would be unfit for office if he is ultimately convicted on any of his 91 criminal charges,exit polling found. (He denies all wrongdoing.)
Haley also narrowly won moderates and ran well with independents and college graduates, all groups that have been electoral sore spots with Trump, while just 42% of primary voters identified themselves as "part of the MAGA movement."
Still, Trump saw hefty advantages with other demographics, according to the exit polls.
Primary voters thought he was more electable in November than Haley by a 23-point margin, and more voters said he has the physical and mental health needed to serve effectively as president than Haley.
Overall, he also demonstrated more loyalty among his voters at the same time that the exit polls hinted at how he can motivate his critics.
Ninety-three percent of Trump voters said they mainly voted for their candidate, rather than against his opponent. Among Haley voters, 58% mainly supported her -- and 40% voted mainly to oppose Trump.
