Donald Trump and Nikki Haley will face each other on February 24th in the South Carolina Republican primaries. While the former president seeks a resounding victory that will allow him to clear the field, the former governor pursues a worthy defeat to be able to continue as a competitive option for Super Tuesday. According to a recent CBS poll, the first scenario is much more likely than the second.
Among other things, the survey asked likely voters to look back at both the Trump Administration at the national level and the Haley Administration at the state level. On this topic, there was an 82% approval of Trump's presidency and 60% approval of Haley's tenure as governor.
In turn, regarding the probability of defeating Joe Biden in a hypothetical general election, 55% stated that Trump would "definitely" defeat the Democratic president, while 33% said the same about the former ambassador to the United Nations.
With this in mind, South Carolina's likely Republican voters lean toward Trump as their candidate for president. As a whole, 65% preferred the magnate over Haley, who only garnered 30% voting intention.
Looking ahead to November 2024, CBS also asked its sample if an eventual conviction of Trump could prevent them from voting for him. In this context, 49% responded that they would vote for the former president anyway, 22% would not vote for him and 29% indicated that it would depend on the charges against him.
The last Republican winners in South Carolina
2020 : Primaries canceled
2016 : Donald Trump (32%)
2012 : Newt Gingrich (40%)
2008 : John McCain (33%)
2004 : Primaries canceled
2000 : George W. Bush (53%)
1996 : Bob Dole (45%)
1992 : George HW Bush (66%)
1988 : George HW Bush (48%)
