Nikki Haley received minimal Republican support in the South Carolina primary, with most of her votes coming from Independents, moderates, and Democrats.
Some voters, like Kelli Poindexter, strategically voted for Haley to counter Trump’s support in the state.
“I voted for Nikki Haing simply to maybe cancel out one of the Donald Trump votes, and that is because this is heavy Donald Trump support in our state,” Poindexte said.
“I don’t understand it.”
“Well, I voted for Trump because I trust him more than I do Haley,” one unidentified voter said.
However, other voters, such as Mary Ring, expressed strong support for Trump, believing he is the best candidate for the White House.
“I voted for Donald Trump,” Ring said. “I think he’s the only one that’s capable of being in the White House.”
South Carolina’s open primary system allowed Democratic and Independent voters to participate, many of whom chose to simply oppose Trump.
Exit polls, however, highlighted Trump’s strong support among various demographics, while Haley found more backing from Independents and moderates.
“Trump overwhelmingly won the support of men and women (68% and 62%, respectively), voters under 45 and those over 45 (64% and 65%), voters with and without college degrees (51% and 75%), and self-identified Republicans (73%),” NBC News wrote.
“Trump also continued his primary season streak of garnering majority support across traditional Republican voting blocs: 86% of very conservative voters, 75% of white evangelicals, 68% of veterans and 89% of the almost half of voters who say they are part of the MAGA movement,” NBC News stated.
“Haley’s support today came from independents, where she beat Trump 54% to 43%, and moderates, where she beat Trump 67% to 32%,” NBC News added.
