Joe Biden swept the South Carolina Democratic primary. With 100% of the votes counted, the president obtained 96%, against 2% for Marianne Williamson and 1.7% for Dean Phillips, who was slightly ahead in the polls.
The president started the primary calendar on the right foot and kept the 55 delegates awarded by the Palmetto State, which four years ago was essential to gaining momentum in a crowded Democratic field.
#BREAKING | Joe Biden is the projected winner of the Democratic Presidential Primary in South Carolina, according to reports from NBC. pic.twitter.com/SakISTzbbT
— VOZ (@Voz_US) February 4, 2024
In February 2020, the then-former vice president was coming off three consecutive defeats in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, so a new setback would have almost buried his campaign ahead of Super Tuesday. Exploiting the message that he was the only candidate capable of defeating Donald Trump in a general election, he secured the key endorsement of James Clyburn, the most important African-American leader in Congress and enormously influential in South Carolina. In this context, Biden comfortably won in South Carolina, leaving Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg far behind.
Clyburn again endorsed Biden ahead of the 2024 primaries and stated that he expected the president to get more than 70% of the vote, although the support was ultimately even higher.
Biden won each and every one of the counties in the state, surpassing the voting intention he had in the polls and practically erasing Williamson and Phillips from the map. The president's campaign focused on high participation since they invested more than $400,000 in propaganda.
This is a developing story...
