The counts in 15 states and a US territory had not even ended on Tuesday evening, but the message was clear: the rematch between Trump and Biden is already underway.
Donald Trump, 77, and Joe Biden, 81, turned their fire on each other as Super Tuesday came to a close. They barely paused to count their victories before taking aim.
“November 5 will go down as the single most important day in the history of our country,” Trump said in the stunning ballroom of his club at Mar-a-Lago.
Biden made an equally stark choice.
“Tonight’s results leave the American people with a clear choice: Do we keep moving forward or do we allow Donald Trump to drag us backward into the chaos, division and darkness that defined his term?” he said.
“November 5 will go down as the single most important day in the history of our country,” Donald Trump said in the glittering ballroom of his Mar-a-Lago
Joe Biden said: “Tonight’s results leave the American people with a clear choice: will we continue to move forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backward into the chaos, division and darkness that defined his term?”
He released his words quietly in a written statement emailed by his campaign.
Trump delivered his speech in a largely improvised address to hundreds of raucous supporters who occasionally interrupted him with chants of “USA, USA, USA,” as his family looked on — albeit without former first lady Melania.
Still, this was a far cry from Trump’s carnival barker persona, which can keep a crowd energized for 90 minutes or more.
He spoke for 18 minutes in a tone that was sometimes subdued, as if the intense pace of juggling four criminal cases, civil lawsuits and a national election campaign had caught up with him.
Biden, meanwhile, didn’t even bother to show up in the evening. He spent the day quietly preparing for Thursday’s State of the Union address. It suggested that two battle-weary veterans were preparing for a new start.
Both emerged victorious in statewide nominating contests across the country.
Trump won Republican votes in a dozen states, putting his last remaining rival Nikki Haley to the sword. She managed a victory in Vermont, which may give her enough hope to continue with a campaign that may not win but does cast her as spokesperson for Trump-weary Republicans.
Biden was on course to win fifteen states, but also suffered a surprising defeat in the territory of American Samoa.
That left two candidates only planning to ditch the nominating contests.
Trump delivered his speech in the gilded splendor of Mar-a-Lago’s Grand Ballroom
Biden delivered his statement in the form of a campaign email
Donald Trump Jr. was in the audience to hear his father speak on Super Tuesday
Mar-a-Lago was filled with fans and supporters for the viewing party and speech
Trump and Biden both had good nights, but each suffered a surprising defeat
Trump was laser-focused on Biden in his speech and refused to even mention Haley. He called Biden the “worst president in history” and focused mainly on his border policy.
“It’s sad to see what’s happening to our cities,” he said. “Our cities are overrun with migrant crime, and that is Biden’s migrant crime.”
And he claimed that the country’s position in the world had declined under his successor.
So while Trump claimed that three and a half years of Biden had ruined the nation, Biden warned of what Trump would undo if he returns to power.
“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all this progress will be in jeopardy. He is driven by resentment and resentment, and is focused on his own revenge and retaliation, not the American people,” Biden said.
“He is determined to destroy our democracy, take away basic freedoms like the ability for women to make their own health care decisions, and pass another round of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy — and he will do it all or say. brought themselves to power.’
Trump was being watched by family members. From left to right: Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr. Tiffany Trump is on the far right, but there was no sign of Melania
Hundreds of glamorous young men and women arrived to watch the results roll in and celebrate the former president’s expected avalanche of delegates
Trump supporters put on a show of force at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening as they waited for the former president to deliver a speech on Tuesday evening
Both explained what they see as a huge commitment.
Still, a rematch in 2020 (the first rematch since 1956) is not something that will excite voters. Both candidates have historically low approval ratings in opinion polls.
The winner could be decided by what pollster James Johnson called the “double rejecters”: voters who want a different choice. How many people stay home or who they hate the least could determine the outcome in key swing states like Georgia, Arizona or Wisconsin.
However, Trump supporters insist there is one issue that could break the impasse.
Tuesday’s results and Trump’s string of victories show that arguments over immigration can win, Rep. Byron Donalds said.
‘W“Whether you are a Republican voter, an independent voter, a Democratic voter, securing our borders is the most important issue in our country,” he said.
“And you can talk to people in New York and Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Colorado, etc., they all see the same thing.”