(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump stacked up a slew of dominant primary state wins Tuesday, extending his lead over former South Carolina governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and intensifying calls for her to leave the race.
Trump spoke to his supporters Tuesday night from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and touted his victories, arguing that the race is over.
“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump said. “This is a big one. They tell me … there has never been one like this. There has never been one so conclusive and amazing.”
Media outlets named Trump as the winner of at least 11 states – Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia – almost immediately. Haley was projected to win Vermont. Results in states further west – Alaska, California and Utah – continue to develop.
Fifteen states voted in Republican primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday.
Trump in his victory speech hit a range of topics, from energy to immigration to foreign policy to attacking his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden.
Many Republicans immediately began calling for Haley to leave the race.
“Man I knew Trump would have a good night but this is a rout,” U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, as the results came in Tuesday evening. “For voters, we have the next six months to convince them that DJT deserves another term. But for donors and political professionals, it’s time to unite behind our nominee. Please stop wasting time and money.”
U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., called it a “huge night” for Trump and said it is “time to unite” against Biden, an echoing message for Trump’s backers.
“The margins are incredible,” Schmitt said of Trump’s win. “Time to unite and beat Biden and the Democrats. “
Results are still trickling in, but Trump has dominated the results so far, winning hundreds of delegates and within striking range of 1,215, the number needed to clinch the nomination. While Trump cannot secure the nomination Tuesday night, he only needs a few more states to do so.
Georgia, Mississippi and Washington have their Republican primaries next Tuesday, the same day Hawaii holds its caucus.
Throughout the evening, Trump posted on TruthSocial a “THANK YOU” to each state as he won it by double-digits.
Haley has remained committed so far in the primary race despite several defeats by wide margins, even in South Carolina, where she once served as governor.
In addition to Vermont, Haley was able to pull out a win Sunday in the Washington, D.C. primary, where she nabbed 19 delegates over the weekend.
“Don’t complain about what happens in the general if you don’t participate in the primary!” Haley wrote on X Tuesday in her call to voters to go to the polls.
Trump’s supporters have been calling on Haley to drop out for months.
“It’s a BAD day to be Nikki Haley!” U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, wrote on X. “She’s about to get blown out of the water this Super Tuesday in an embarrassing loss. You can’t feel bad though, she did it to herself! Nikki, it’s time to drop out and ENDORSE TRUMP!”
Haley raked in more than $30 million in the first two months of this year from donors eager for a post-Trump election. Haley’s campaign has spent millions while she has aggressively visited states, but it wasn’t near enough to even be competitive with Trump Tuesday.
“Over the past 10 days, I’ve met folks in 10 states who’ve all said the same thing: thank you for fighting for us and for giving us someone to vote for,” Haley wrote on X. “That’s why I’m in this. It’s not about me, it’s about saving our country.”
Trump faces 91 criminal charges across four states, raising questions about whether they could sink his presidential campaign and leave the party scrambling for a replacement.
Haley said during an interview with Fox News that she would not run as a third party candidate.
“I have said many, many times I would not run as an independent,” Haley said. “I would not run as ‘No Labels’ because I am a Republican, and that’s who I’ve always been. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Notably, Trump’s Tuesday wins included Colorado, a state where he was reinstated on the ballot after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked his opponents from removing him. The Colorado Supreme Court had backed Trump’s opponents who had said he should be disqualified from the White House for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
“The undisputed leader of our party is President Donald J. Trump!” U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., wrote on X. “His YUGE victory in Colorado proves it yet again… as if we needed anymore proof!”
