Donald Trump celebrated a resounding victory in Michigan's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, defeating his only remaining rival Nikki Haley and extending his undefeated streak to six contests.
The win in Michigan, a key battleground state in U.S. presidential elections, just after Trump beat Haley in her home state of South Carolina over the weekend quickened his march toward a likely November rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
"The numbers are far greater than we even anticipated," Trump told his supporters gathered for an election night party in Michigan by phone, adding that he is "so proud of the results" and determined to return to the White House.
Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador under Trump, has no clear path to overtake the former president and clinch the party's nomination in July.
But Haley, 52, has indicated that she will stay in the race at least through "Super Tuesday" on March 5, when 15 states and one territory hold nominating contests for the general election.
She has repeatedly said the United States needs a younger leader than the 77-year-old Trump or the 81-year-old Biden, referring to polls showing a majority of voters in the country want an option other than a rematch between the former and current presidents.
"We are in a ship with a hole in it, and we can either go down with the ship and watch the country go socialist left, or we can see that we need to take the life raft and move in a new direction," she told CNN. "That's what this is about."
Biden, meanwhile, faced a backlash from Arab American voters and progressive Democrats in Michigan, where he won against Trump by a narrow margin in the 2020 presidential election.
Protesting Biden's strong backing of Israel in its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, some of those voters -- who were vital in his successful bid for the White House -- launched a campaign to check "uncommitted" in the swing state's Democratic primary.
Michigan is demographically diverse and home to the biggest Arab American population in the United States.
Despite Biden's decisive victory in the state and other nominating contests, his handling of the months-long conflict in the Gaza Strip has become increasingly unpopular among Democratic voters across the country.
On Tuesday, the number of uncommitted votes far exceeded the protest campaign's goal of securing at least 10,000 -- which is about Trump's margin of victory in 2016 in Michigan -- sounding an alarm for Biden.
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