Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Before the polls even closed in the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday, Lawrence O’Donnell, an anchor and pundit on the ardently liberal MSNBC, said the result was going to be disastrous for Donald Trump. It was already clear from exit polls that Trump would win – but not handsomely enough to be chuffed, O’Donnell said. He had a point. Trump won by 20 points, but Nikki Haley won nearly 40 per cent of the vote and in swing states just 5 per cent of Haley’s backers could deny Trump a return to the White House simply by staying at home in the general election. Reality check: Trump won all the South Carolina’s delegates and barring a colossal surprise will sew up the nomination on Super Tuesday eight days from now. But he will win it thanks to the 62 per cent of Republican primary voters, mainly whites without college diplomas, who still believe he won in 2020. Haley doesn’t, and nor do three-quarters of her supporters. So the vital question coming into focus is how many Republicans who don’t believe Trump’s 2020 nonsense will vote for him anyway over Biden. For Trump 2.0 to happen, it will have to be a lot.