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In a primary contest that looks like it could be a rocky ride for Haley in every corner of America, her home turf of South Carolina was seen by her more optimistic backers as a port in a storm. The 52-year-old Ronald Reagan-style conservative was a popular governor, known as a cost-cutting advocate of small government and even smaller tax bills. It was a manifesto that got her elected for two terms from 2011 to 2017. But her defeat was never so much about Haley herself as the deep loyalty South Carolinians have for Trump — and the deference of a political establishment that got fully behind the candidate once seen as an outsider. Both of the state’s US senators and five of the six-strong delegation it sends to the House of Representatives endorsed Trump. He was also backed by 25 state representatives to Haley’s four — not to mention South Carolina’s incumbent governor, Henry McMaster, and three of his top officials. Trump’s appeal was obvious in opinion polling that showed him up to 30 points in the run-up to Saturday’s vote. But anyone studying his presidential election history in the Palmetto State — wins in 2020 and 2016 with 55 percent and 54 percent respectively — would have been able to read the runes before a ballot was cast on Saturday. As Trump coasts to another victory in race for Republican nomination, and Haley vows to fight on, FRANCE 24 is joined by Political Pollster John Zogby, Senior Partner at John Zogby Strategies.
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