the south carolina gop presidential primary, unfiltered and uninterrupted, beginning with a simulcast of south carolina educational television's coverage, hearing from local political analysts, experts and reporters across the palmetto state. then primary results as they come in, candidate speeches and your reaction on social media and by taking your calls. watch live coverage of south carolina's gop presidential primary, today at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org/campaign2024. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government and we are funded by these television companies and more including wow. >> the world has changed.

today, fast and reliable internet connections -- and more from campaign 2024 now with today's south carolina republican primary coming up, live speeches from donald trump and nikki haley. first we join south carolina educational television and their live coverage of today's voting in the palmetto state. ♪ ♪

>> good evening. i am gavin jackson. welcome to tonight's coverage of the republican presidential primary. we will be talking to folks in the field and getting live updates from the nikki haley and donald trump headquarters. you can see them right there. joining us in studio to discuss the race and the outcome is scott, we just saw the polls close. we have not seen many results but what are your initial thoughts? scott: as the polls have been indicating it is donald trump's to lose. the real question is how much will he win by?

nikki haley does not want to be embarrassed in her home state so a massive loss, 30 points or more, some polls have shown would be terrible. a real victory would be a loss in the teens. we could see somewhere between those extremes. she will probably continue to stay in the race especially if she loses by less than 30. she has the money. usually candidates drop out because when they are losing, they cannot raise money. nikki haley has been an exception. using but still raising money. gavin: she raised $1.5 million in january. she has been turning people out. getting thousands in the charleston area. there is still enthusiasm. we are also seeing some early numbers. we have the money and enthusiasm so she is saying that she will

go beyond south carolina. where does this go? scott: the next big stop is super tuesday. you have a massive number of states, the overwhelming majority of delegates will be awarded then almost to the point where if donald trump were to get them all, he would be almost undefeatable. shortly after super tuesday will probably amass enough delegates where mathematically it will become impossible but she will get to apply her message across the nation. there are some places that are open primaries and some that are closed primaries. as we have seen, in her home state, the nature of the republican party has changed and it is no longer your father's republican party. it has become tromso republican party. gavin: breaking news from the associated press -- donald trump has won the primary. we were waiting for the

associated press to call it. it came early. we still have a whole show. you have a live shot from the trump rally in columbia. we don't know what to expect from former president donald trump in terms of addressing the crowd there. scott: this comes not just from the associated press but all the press organizations that go in together on exit polling so they have been giving updates all day long. it is probably via smartphone. and i did it in college and worked for exit polls i had to stop during the day to phone in the results up to the hour. they have seen all along. calling it within a few minutes is not a great love but it is also absolutely no surprise. gavin: we have two hours to talk about everything going on in

south carolina. we will be looking at how much she lost by and what the numbers mean going forward. we will hear from the folks in the field but let's go to the trump rally. let's see if he is taking the stage. we will hear from donald trump and he is flying to either south carolina officials that backed him. he is about to address the crowd. we should mention that master has been with donald trump since 2016. he was the first statewide elected official in the country to back donald trump and it has paid dividends. he was cleared to become governor in 2017 with donald trump sending nikki haley to the united nations. we are still hearing some music

at the trump rally which if you have ever been to one, it is quite riveting and engaging. it is somewhat of an all day affair. scott: the lines are incredibly long. there are vendors selling every type imaginable of merchandise. it is truly a festival type atmosphere. it goes to show the nature that the republican party has become, centered around one massive celebrity who is adored. it is not just policy. not just politics. it is an adoration of donald trump. scott:-- gavin: he was in conley south carolina where he made some interesting comments about nato and nikki haley's husband serving abroad overseas.

we can talk about that later after we hear from the former president. you can hear the music still on south carolina public radio. he is about to address us. stand by for that. you see all of the elected officials and nikki haley is saying she does not care that she does not have those folks and does not need them. scott: donald trump is an insider who has run as an outsider and same for nikki haley. gavin: and we are about to start. donald trump: wow, that was really something. a little sooner than we anticipated and an even bigger win than we anticipated. i was just informed that we got double the number of votes that has ever been received in the great state of south carolina. so, it is pretty good.

it is a record times two. there is something going on in the country. some really great things going on. but you look outside and see all the horror. the millions of people coming across the border illegally. they come from jails, prisons and all sorts of places and mental institutions and insane asylums. we don't want in our country and we won't stand for it. we won't stand for it. you have terrorists coming in. we have people coming in -- we cannot do this and no country could sustain what is happening to the united states of america. no country. we will straighten things out. the border is the worst it is ever been. in 2016 we won and we had a bad border. i talked about it a lot. we are going to fix it. we fixed it quickly. in 2020 we could not talk about

it though we got millions more votes the second time but now there is a spirit like i have never seen. we have run bang two great races. there has never been a spirit like that is. i want to say that i have never seen the republican party so unified as it is right now. never been like this. and a big part of that is the people standing behind me. these are the biggest officials in south carolina but i say the biggest officials in our country as far as i am concerned. they are state figures but they are national figures and in the truest sense of the word they love our country so much and they want to see our country succeed and be respected again. we are a laughing stock across the world. our country will be respected again, respected like never before. so this is a fantastic evening.

it is an early evening and fantastic. you can all go down and celebrate for about 15 minutes and then we have to get back to work because the big day, the big day, michigan is coming out. the autoworkers will be with us 100%. they were sold out by this country. michigan is up and we will have a tremendous success there and then we have super tuesday. i think we are leading 91-7 overall. if you don't mind, may i have the pleasure of introducing some incredible people? because they stuck right from the beginning, from the very moment we announced. and they believe in make america great again. and even america first. first off, my family.

yvonne cut and jared, tiffany -- ivanka and jared. tiffany and michael. we have a great family. we have incredible friends. we will be up here november fit them we will look at joe biden and we will look him right in the eye. he is destroying our country. and we are going to say, joe, you are fired. get out. get out joe, you are fired up your you are destroying our country. i just wish we could do it quicker. nine months is a long time. i wish we could do it quicker, mr. governor. is there anything you can do with your vast powers? in certain countries you can call your election date. if i had the right to do it, i would do it tomorrow.

i would say, we are having an election. is there anything you can do? right from the beginning, henry mcmaster, the governor of this wonderful state and much more importantly, his wife peggy who is with him all the time -- all the way. i would like to ask him to say a few words. he is a special man and an incredible governor. he gave us some very good advice. from the day i announced i had the lieutenant governor and from right at the beginning when i announced i said, i don't know the gentleman, is he good? they said, he is great. and i said, i hope so. and within two weeks i said, that guy is unbelievable. i never had the support of the governor but i had the support of someone much, much better, henry mcmaster. we won in a landslide.

i would like to ask the governor to say a few words. mr. mcmaster: thank you, mr. president. i would like people to know at this moment that this is a great movement. we will probably never see another one like it. every time a rocket launches it goes up slow and then it climbs and climbs and then the next stage goes boom. we just reached maximum velocity and we are going all the way. i'm going to -- mr. trump: he came on board and lindsay wanted him and the lieutenant governor wanted him. henry and peggy wanted him. i thought he was ok but he did not love speaking about himself because he is a good person. i have no problem with that. [laughter] he endorsed me and we asked him

to do a few shows, some nice shows. what he did -- i said, is this the same man? he campaigned nicely. a high quality person. when he was supporting me, when he went out, tim scott, senator tim scott went out and was ripping it. i said, what happened to tim scott? what a dynamo. he has been one of our great advocates. he has been doing unbelievable things. i'm very happy he did not have the same energy, drive because i think i probably would have been out of the race a long time ago. but i want to say, a very special man. and i really do mean it. so many have great respect for him and you are lucky to have him in the state. tim, please, say a few words.

tim scott: hello, south carolina! the longer i speak, the less you hear of him so let me ask one survey question. and you better answer it loud and clear. is south carolina tromp country -- trump country? [cheers and applause] mr. trump: thank you very much. another man, not a lot of people know him. he happens to be a little further left than some of the people on the stage but i always say, when i am in trouble with the left i called up lindsey graham and he has straightened it out so far. and i will tell you, -- no, no,

remember, -- [crowd booing] i love him. he is a good man. come up here! come here! [applause] >> ok, are you ready? america, the nightmare you are facing is just about over! help is on the way. this is the most qualified man to be president of the united states. and let it be said that south carolina created the biggest political comeback in american history. mr. trump: thank you. so, i have a son who was a very talented guy and he works so hard and we love him and his

wife is very good. she goes on -- and i want to thank eric and lara for doing such a fantastic job. really amazing, they are amazing people. let's go down a little list of some of the people up here tonight because every one of them is a star in their own right. your lieutenant over in her is going places. you do know that, right? really going places. and speaker of the house, mel smith -- you know, some of these people are actually busy. he is running to get over here. but i want to thank the speaker of the house doing a great job for the state. and an attorney general has been in the news a lot winning cases. i wish we had a good attorney general like that in new york. he is a great attorney general. allen wilson.

thank you, alan. his father happens to be up here also. remember his famous -- he has been loved ever since as mayor. curtis, thank you very much wherever you may be. thank you, curtis p the secretary of state, thank you, mark. ambassador, and this is a great ambassador, one of the best. any time we had a problem i would call ed mcmullen and he would solve the problem very quickly. ed, thank you very much. we have a man that has done a good job in the stage. her south carolina gop chair, drew, thank you.

we have a highly opinionated -- i tell you, they have turned very positive on you very quickly. you have a beautiful, beautiful state next to you, north carolina. we love north carolina. in fact, they named their daughter carolina and i said, which state -- and she said, both. i think i know which state, but that is ok. they have the most beautiful daughter named caroline and we love both of them very much. and we won them both very easily. we won north carolina because of a man named michael whatley. it looks to me that we gave him our endorsement and it looks to me like he will be going off to the national republican party

as the boss. michael whatley, michael, thank you. he will be working with laura. and we may be putting kelly and in the group -- kellyanne in the group. you are going to do a fantastic job with a view. what a job he has done in north carolina. remember the evening of 2020 with the votes coming in and we were meeting in pennsylvania. all of a sudden, something happened and it went. and then we were meeting all over the place. north carolina, i said, when will they drop the ballots? we never had a problem. i said, that is my kind of guy. he had hundreds of lawyers -- 500 lawyers to make sure they

did not cheat in north carolina. and i said, that is my kind of guy. i appreciate that and we are very proud of you and you will do a fantastic job. we used to have election night. now we have an election period because some of these elections go on for 45 days or 61 days. they get all this equipment. and then they announce, we will be announcing the vote in three weeks from now. can you imagine? but you have done a fantastic job and we really appreciate it, michael. we also have a lot of members of congress. this room is full of energy. there has never been unity in our party -- think of it -- we have a lot of primaries in this stage. the fact that we got double the number of votes in history, there has never been anything like that.

we have never heard that. we have members of congress with us. i'm very proud of this. i thought, that guy would be great. we had a guy whose vote i was not happy with and he voted to impeach your favorite presidents. and until then, he would love to have that vote back, i can tell you. but until then he was a man that could not be beaten. and i said, let's see? i said, who do we have? and they said the best we have as a man named russell fry. he had my support. and he has been a fantastic congressman. wherever you may be, hello, russell. what a great job, thank you very much. we got rid of that one and a lot of them. almost every one of them. the impeachers are all gone.

nancy mace is here, a noncontroversial person. she is a real advocate and i appreciate it very much. she is a very strong woman. and we want strong women. we like strong women. william timmons, congressman william timmons p doing -- congressman william timmons. joe wilson is tough and smart. and he and his beautiful wife is a wonderful attorney general. joe, thank you very much. michael waltz knows more about the military then probably anybody. we see him on a lot and i always want his opinion and he has strong opinions and he hates to see what is happening to our country but he will straighten it out and we will straighten it

out together. michael collins. thank you. great job. a very noncontroversial person and a very good person. people don't understand, this is a very good person and a very capable man, matt gaetz. thank you, matt. that is not bad, matt. wow! wow! i'm very impressed. [crowd chanting "gaetz"] matt, what is going on? how many people have you brought up here? before i forget, we have a group

of people and i know this is ok with you from north carolina, it is about 60 women that travel all over the country with me. every time i am out we do a rally. i think we are up to number 121. they are all beautiful women. they are very wealthy. they look so wealthy and beautiful. look at them over here. they travel all over the country . wait over 100. they are all happily married and have wonderful husbands. one of the husbands is standing right there and he is the smartest one of them all. i just want to thank you. your support is like a breath of fresh air. i look at these incredible people. you don't have to travel to california and texas. we very much appreciate it. thank you.

very special women. a woman who is out campaigning today, the hardest worker. i said, marjorie, -- i said, marjorie, you don't have to do it. she went to a polling sector and she had the trump flag and she is waving it and i said, marjorie, it is 4:30 p.m. and she said, i am staying. this is the hardest working -- wherever you are she is respected by everybody and is very smart. and i'm just very happy she is on our side, right eric? it has been an incredible period of time. we have a country that is a failing nation but we are not

going to have a failing nation very long. we are not going to allow this to happen. we love our country dearly and we will fight for our country and fight for our rights. we are not going to let this go on because it is not sustainable by any country. i believe done number -- it is time to get him out. november 5 will be a most important dates. perhaps in the history of our country. the election is on november 5. we have michigan coming next week and super tuesday. we have set a record so far in every single -- in iowa, we got the most votes in history times two just like this. we went to new hampshire. new hampshire and iowa have been around for a long time politically. in new hampshire we got the most votes and the history -- it is

like who has the most home runs or hits in baseball or who threw the most touchdowns in football or the most points and basketball. we got the most votes in the history of new hampshire primary. and that goes back so many decades. we have john f. kennedy, that is a lot of people to beat. and we beat them by a lot. and then we went to the virgin islands. i want to thank the virgin islands because we made a very -- they made a very strong play for the virgin islands. and then nevada. we got 99 point 6% of the vote. they had a primary. and it is in various forms -- unknown candidate, no candidate.

65% of the vote, and they think i was the no candidate. it was a caucus. without going into it, i think we won by 50 points. and then we come here. in south carolina, i have won every primary by a record and every election by a record. and people like these two and this great governor and your great lieutenant governor and i have to say, thank you very much. what a job! they make it really easy. and as i was announcing, it seems like a long time ago, but as i was announcing before i finish the speech they said, we are endorsing trump. those are friends, great, great friends. we had some very strong competitors. these were real friends.

south carolina, thank you very much. no home and get rest. we have a lot of work ahead of us. we love you all. god bless you all. it bless you all. thank you very much. god bless you. ♪ gavin: that is former president donald trump giving his victory speech for south carolina. not everything is in yet despite what we heard from the former president. we have a lot of early voting numbers we are looking at. 50% trump, 40% nikki haley right now. the numbers will change in the coming hours. what were some of the moments you just heard from the former president that jumped out to you? scott: the shout out of almost literally everyone on the stage and half of the audience.

he had to get that in there. it was interesting to see him bring forward tim scott. i thought tim scott would say a little bit more. is this an audition? all he did was ride up the crowd -- rile up the crowd. it was interesting to me to hear the boos that lindsey graham god. his approval ratings in south carolina have been on the decline even among republicans. right now, it is barely above 50 and in the state in general it is barely above 30. i expected he would not be beloved but to hear the actual boos -- gavin: he said, a little further to the left talking about lindsey graham. i did see a donald trump rally

in pickens last year -- everywhere on had a couple of moments there to talk also. we did not hear him say anything about nikki haley. she continued to hammer him about his speech in new hampshire on election night. and she mentions that he talked about her dress that night and all he did was talk about revenge and attacking her and never about the country. but you did not hear him mention nikki haley tonight. it seemed he is pivoting to more of the general election tone. scott: this was definitely a pivot away from the primaries. we are going on to super tuesday and michigan and the next state but the fact is he is clearly running now for president of the

united states and not for the nomination anymore. he fully expected victory. he alluded to her briefly when he talked about what happened in nevada. and for folks not familiar, they did have a caucus which the party won and then they had to have a primary also which the party did not win. the party would only award delegates from the caucus. a key haley ran in the primary. donald trump ran away with the caucus. and nikki haley lost to none of these candidates which is what he was alluding to. he did not name her. he talked about loving strong women. scott: -- gavin: he was talking about nancy mace who i was in north charleston with during the rally on valentine's day. we have come a long way. they have had a contentious relationship. she was on the stage introducing him.

tell us how things are going. we just heard that long speed from the president. not as long as some of the other events we have seen on recent days. he was thanking his supporters. what is the vibe out there? >> well, the vibe was pretty excited a few minutes ago but the party is basically over now given that the ap called the race. we saw a handful of south carolinians including the lieutenant governor and senator is lawmakers. former president donald trump gave shout outs to them. one of the most interesting things that he said on stage was that he had never seen the republican party as unified as it is right now. and as you mention, he called up

senator lindsey graham and the crowd booed and then he called up the chairman and the crowd booed representative of some of the fraction happening inside the south carolina republican party coalition. we still see people milling around. it is not a huge crowd. this is a pretty early party and everyone is pretty happy. gavin: we can talk about party unity. i want to go to our reporter who is at the nikki haley valley. -- rally. we did not hear donald trump mention nikki haley in his victory speech after being declared the victor. how was it going down there? >> [inaudible]

i think for anyone following this race -- [indiscernible] [indiscernible] she says regardless of what happens tonight, she is going to

stay in the race. [indiscernible] i think that will be her message. she has not taken the stage just yet. we are going to stay here until the last vote is counted. [indiscernible] comparisons being drawn between donald trump and joe biden. i want to go back to her not dropping out of the race. i think that is a message that will appeal to people. [indiscernible]

there are some dignitaries including the former south carolina first lady. gavin: thank you. quite a different visual there. the only dignitary that she is seeing is the former first lady. the big endorsement that she got was ralph. she has had the support of some local state representatives. quite the contrast. what is the message from her to keep the enthusiasm going? scott: one of the things was that as she traveled across south carolina trying to get as many endorsements as she could on stage with her and donald trump was needling her by

pointing out all the major endorsements he got from people that had served with her. what will she have to do going forward is tried to downplay the size of the loss. what is said about waiting until every vote is counted. she needs to know how much she has lost i -- has lost by your sheet loses by only in the teens, that would essentially be a victory. one heck of a comeback from 30 points behind. if she loses by 30 points, that will be a different set of messaging. one of the things it says is i cannot win in the south so i am trying to pick up votes in the nonself -- non-south. the thing about modern republican presidents is that if

they can sweep the 11th state south, they have won more than 50% of the electoral college roads they need to become president and they need less already percent of the entire rest of the country. for her to show that she cannot win in the south as a republican does not show a lot of enthusiasm and she will have to take that and massage that message going forward. gavin: could it be closer than we think it is going to be? we have under 30,000 numbers, the polls closed just 40 minutes ago. is it a way for donald trump to get ahead of any surprise numbers? scott: one of the things -- donald trump made a lot of claims about the size of his victory. those numbers are quite literally unavailable. we don't know and won't know until they are officially in because we have safe and secure

ballots and safe and secure voting. all of the votes have not been counted. these are best estimates. but he says he won by more than double the vote which is entirely possible given the way the polling is going but we simply don't know it. he has gotten out in front and only if she has an incredible comeback, she is not expected to win and won't win but if she has it and" -- but if she has an incredible comeback -- it could come back to bite him but this is donald trump. gavin: we have 6% of the votes in an donald trump is at 57% of the vote. before we get into more results and analysis, we go to the south carolina republican party chairman who was speaking with

-- radio. we will play that clip now. >> overt 200,000 people voted -- over 200,000 people voted early. what do you expect as far as turnout tonight? what should that tell the rest of the country about south carolina? >> 208,000 people early voted. that tells you where the enthusiasm is, it is with the republicans. today i project we will set a record. the record was 76 5000. these numbers tell me we will blow through that today. and again that tells me there is enthusiasm for the party and the candidates. looking to the rest of the country or as it looks to south carolina as it traditionally does for what we will do regarding the nomination i will point out that since 1980, no

republican has gone on to the white house without winning the south carolina primary ever. this is part of what we do because we are the last date in the one state at a time roller coaster where you can focus all of your time and attention on one state before you move on to the next group. 10 days after south carolina you have super tuesday. if you don't do well here, you won't do well at super tuesday and around the country. it is what has happened in every single cycle in the past. it is what i expect again today. i would argue south carolina is representative of the republican coalition nationally and has been throughout modern politics. early we have social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, national security conservatives. a bigger percentage of retired veterans here. i think that is one of the reasons why we tend to get it

right. south carolina is i would argue very representative of the republican coalition nationally and has been throughout the modern politics. we have social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, populists conservatives, national security conservatives. a bigger percentage of retired veterans here at thence in a -- then in the rest of the country. >> all polling indicates that former president donald trump will win tonight. in 2020 republicans were able to flip five seats in the legislature. what are your november elections? >> we look to take more state senate seats. we picked up four last time. there will be a lot of local races. we have no statewide race this year so there is more of a local focus.

statehouse, state senate, sheriff's races. gavin: that was drew talking to our reporter. i'm going to bring you some results. we have a full-page graphic of the race. very early polls. -- it is very early, polls just closed 45 minutes ago. he is leading nikki haley at 58% to 41% with a 17 point margin. results will continue to come in. i am in studio with scott huffman, a political science professor. listening to drew my because it when we heard the associated press call other races in other states for donald trump. when we saw -- i was at the

caucus site. the associated press called it at 8:25 p.m. and folks were pretty heated about it. but this was right at 7:00. scott: there was really never any question especially after the other folks started dropping out of the race. and she was not automatically picking up the support that they had in our poll, 70 plus percent of donald trump support was with him from the beginning. only 50% of nikki haley support had been with her from the beginning. she picked up some but not enough. with donald trump still gaining momentum and in south carolina, it was almost a victory lap. he did not engage her or spend that much money here. he did not debate in any of the states. basically he treated it as if it

were a coronation and his followers treated it the same way. gavin: saying that is why she is still in the race. we don't make kings in america and we keep fighting. that was her excuse and she has been fundraising here which is critical going forward. when we saw her give that speech on tuesday in greenville, the speech was to get media attention. everyone thought she would drop out four days before her home state. but also to put the message out there ahead of whatever happened that expectations are what they are and she will still go forward. scott: and she has said that from the beginning. the fact that she can still raise money after the losses -- most candidates had to drop out. they ran out of money. she is still able after losing multiple times to travel around and pick up money.

and that is a little different than usual. someone who has lost this many times and came in third the first time in iowa and had the embarrassing loss in nevada simply would not be able to raise money. she has been able to continue her fundraising. she appears to be set to continue to do it through super tuesday. but as you pointed out, if she has an overwhelming and embarrassing loss in south carolina, that might cut into her ability to do that. if she stays in through super tuesday, she will be the only one in a position to if donald trump loses to joe biden in the general election to say i told you so and i stayed in as long as possible and she will still have the warchest she has been building. gavin: does she have her eye on 2028? >> in the short term, she may. if she makes a big brouhaha at the convention, absolutely.

if she does not drop out with grace at some point, in the short term it could tarnish her image. but in the long run we know donald trump can make friends with his enemies and things can change a lot in four years. nikki haley, i guarantee you even after she drops out, she will continue to be on the media circuit and keep her relevance especially in republican parties. -- republican politics. gavin: we are going to jump to our colleague who is at nikki haley's party. donald trump spoke for about 20 minutes. we have the former first lady. a big supporter of nikki haley as was her former husband, sanford who helped get nikki haley to the governor's mansion. thelisha: thank you.

we are here at nikki haley's headquarters. i am here with the former first lady, jenny sanford. what do you think -- [indiscernible] >> i am not sure i heard the question. what do i think about them calling it? i wish they had waited longer but i get it. the press has been putting out there for a long time that it is a 30 point spread. i just hope we beat the expectations and narrow the gap. thelisha: she has said she will not drop out tonight and she is pushing forward to super tuesday. what do you think [indiscernible] what do you think they need to know about her so they can throw

their support behind her? >> i think voters everywhere need to know that she is a genuine, honest and heartfelt woman that cares for america. she will make this country a better place. she is the real deal doing what she believes in. she has my support as long as she is in the race. i will continue to work for her and support her. we saw her as the south carolina governor and she was incredible. there was no drama. our country has been filled with drama in the political world. there was no drama or scandal. she kept our economy booming. she fixed our immigration problems. she would boost our economy. she would improve our education and reform our school system. she has the right woman to lead us into the next century and she is a uniter and not a divider.

and she is running against a former president. for him to get 40 -- for her to get 40% today would be huge. what is that about him that does not unite the party the way he should be? thelisha: she has not won any races yet. but the funding is coming in and people are following her on her bus tour. what does she need to do to solidify support moving forward? what should she do [indiscernible] >> i think she needs to keep getting her message out there. i think the president should start taking her more seriously rather than assuming the race is

a done deal. [indiscernible] people should be taking her seriously. she is the alternative that many in our country are yearning for. people have stop voting in republican primaries and now they are voting for her. i hope she stays in as long as she can afford to. thelisha: the former first lady, jenny sanford, thank you for your time and we appreciate it. gavin: the former first lady. polls have only been closed for almost an hour now. the associated press called the race for former president donald trump. you just heard from the former first lady. she was there leading the state with her husband. she was talking about nikki

haley being an actual republican. talk to people about what nikki haley was like in 2010 and her reelection in 2014. many call her a moderate. donald trump and his supporters calling her a democrat. but who is nikki haley? scott: let's just recognize what an amazing advocate jenny sanford was. she did every talking point darn near perfectly. it was everything that nikki haley could hope for. looking back at nikki haley, her evolution is anything but that of a moderate. she was a relatively -- she was relatively unknown to legislature. she was running in 2010 for the republican nomination for governor. fourth out of four. but then she got the endorsement from the ultimate queen of the party and she rockets forward to the front of the pack.

there was a runoff against a traditional republican. she has ridden the tea party wave end of the governors managed -- into the governors mansion. she was not that well known at the time. south carolina is a republican plus 10 stage. she won by four. she runs against the exact same candidate years later. south carolinians had come to know her and like her and she was very popular with one minor exception in the fall of 2011. ben carson was a tea party favor at the time. folks may remember in carson. she endorsed mitt romney and briefly upset the tea party. they came back. all of her policies were along the line of the tea party. one exception that jenny sanford

pointed out was the confederate flag. when she was running for governor she spoke to the sons of the confederate veterans and she said she had no intention of removing the confederate flag. after overwhelming support for moving the flag, she agreed. that angered a few and her base but in general she governed as a staunch conservative and really capped the tea party energy going even as it began to evolve. it broke up a little bit for a lack of clear organization but it re-solidified under them i got -- under the maga movement. gavin: nikki haley spoke about personhood and ivf and the alabama court decision. was that something that could reemphasize to her republican base that i am still a

republican but also may be flag some democrats thinking, maybe she is not what i would think of as a moderate? scott: i'm not sure of the strategic reasoning behind that. looking at how many families have used in vitro fertilization and how many frozen embryos are there and to say that as a child and someone ought to be sued for the death of an embryo which is what this case was about signaled or may signal to the republican party that i am strong. rank-and-file republicans again and again and again when they are polled, the majority of them still want some sort of legal abortion. it may thoroughly be under the health of the mother or a case of rape-incest but cutting it off completely which any personhood bill would do, they are not behind that but you

could argue that she is signaling to hard-core republicans she was hoping for a lot of crossover voting in the election hoping for democrats to show up. when she came out with the personhood argument, she better hope that none of those democrats -- gavin: and the democratic leaders in our state -- they are saying that this is nikki haley and who she is and we are not here to rescue her. we saw the ap vocab talk about that saying the procedure should be banned in all cases. we have a six-week abortion ban in place. we will see how that plays out in the general election itself -- itself. nikki haley was in a field

including henry mcmaster, a congressman and she blasted all of them. winning almost outrage. -- outright. scott: and he has become a fan and a supporter. the contest at that time was the republican establishment versus the tea party. and that is how it was played up and played out. it is fascinating to see that gresham barrett is firmly in camp haley. gavin: this is south carolina etv coverage of the primary here in the stage. and after an hour, the polls have been closed for an hour, the associated press has already called the raise for former president trump who beat nikki haley in her home state.

i am on set here with scott huffman and we have reporters in the field at the watch parties. he also heard from pamela everett, the lieutenant governor , earlier today. she was next to governor mcmaster. we will hear from the lieutenant governor right now who spoke with our reporters. >> thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for having me up to chitchat. >> you have been an early supporter of former president donald trump. can you explain why he is so popular? >> i have been a supporter i think people are supporting him because they know what he can do. you cannot have donald trump policies without donald trump. we have an invasion at our southern border.

we saw what happened in georgia with a nursing student who was murdered. parents are fearful. now you have to decide if you're going to buy gas or groceries. that is something you think about. these are issues that are affecting people in their homes. that is why they are looking to the leadership that is proven. >> what are the issues that drove you to vote for donald trump? >> i was supporting him long before i was lieutenant governor. i have a national company. i wanted to see government run more like a business. when i saw what he did, how he had strength, he was changing things around. gas prices were going down. people's bank accounts were going up there that is what people were longing for. people are running to go back to that. >> you have done a lot of

traveling around the state speaking to various republican grapes. buddy -- groups. >> everybody is worried about prices going up. there was a great article that said, just four short years ago, if you earned $70,000 a year, you could look at buying that starter home. now you have to look at making much more than that to buy that same home. what is happening is the american dream is getting further and further away from everybody and it is scaring people. they want it to come back. they want to see change. president trump has been there before. they don't like somebody learning on the job. >> polling has suggested that trump will pull it out here tonight. what is your message to nikki haley. she said she will run in the

super tuesday states. do you think she should bow out tonight? >> my hope is that all republicans come together. south carolina has always been the road to the white house. let's get behind who we know the nominee will be. but stop beating up each other in our own party. let's vote together and take back the white house and the senate and make sure we get more seats in the house so we can turn this country around. we do not have a lot of time. that is my message to all republicans. whoever wins our nomination, if it is not who you were originally going for, we stand behind our nominee and we work to get him in the white house. >> we really appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> that was the lieutenant governor. we just heard her talking about

unifying behind donald trump. if nikki haley continues through super tuesday, does that hurt donald trump? we are already seeing him running like a general election candidate. >> out of the get will make a difference in how he campaigns. he is campaigning as an angry pugilist. he is airing a lot of grievances. as he does that, she is channeling the feelings of a lot of supporters who are feeling like they are losing power within their own country. he looks like a fighter for them. this will not change the way they look at it. something he said that was very

interesting was you cannot have donald trump policies without donald trump. you can, but you can have policies of all kind, but it speaks to how strongly this party has become enraptured with his personality and have he is now driving the party other than -- rather than the other way around. >> people asked? ? me what about the policies it is not so much the policies, it is the personality. a lot of times there is not much light between nikki haley and donald trump, except in foreign policy. what is happening in ukraine. it is the two-year anniversary of russia invading ukraine. it has become a hot topic. it is fascinating to see that especially when we saw what happened in russia i with a glass of alexi navalny. nikki haley said he was a hero.

we do not hear that from the other side. how fascinating is that to hear that? >> with the america first movement, the party has started to become much more isolationist than it was under reagan or george w. bush. in that sense, nikki haley is much more the model of somebody who wants to project america's strength around the world. in the post-world war ii era, we have done that. we have been the superpower. we have used their position in nato to help reject that power and keep russia in check. to have the party of reagan who called out the evil empire of the soviet union now essentially not opposing putin, some actually supporting him, not

stopping an invasion from russia into europe, that is a different party. >> thank you for that. we have nancy mace. what is going on there? how is the representative doing? >> how are you doing? >> we are doing great tonight. another night, another historic victory for donald trump. >> what does this say about the race? >> it says he is the presumptive nominee. and we all need to rally behind him. there is not a path for anybody else in this race. he will win every state across the country and we need to unite behind donald trump. >> nikki haley has said she will run in the super tuesday states. you think she should drop out tonight? >> i like nikki haley, i respect her as a woman and a former

ambassador. but the country loves donald trump. on issues like immigration and the border. republican primary voters are supporting him. that is who we are rallying behind tonight. >> when you're talking to your constituents, what are the issues they say are driving them to the polls? >> number one is the border and the illegal immigration. what joe biden has done to destroy our nation. because he has allowed a wide-open border. the second is inflation and the economy. it has been hurting working families. they want groceries and gas to cost less. making sure that every woman in the country has access to ivf treatments. >> how do you feel trump's response to the alabama situation is? >> he came out forcefully last

night against it. that is wonderful. i talked about it all this week. we need to make sure every woman across the state and the nation has access to ivf. >> do you feel like other republicans are starting to follow suit? two they need to be more outspoken like you and the former president? >> i hope they are. women's issues matter. we have to be able to talk about why our policies are more compassionate. the left does not have any limitations. they will not talk about it. they skirted around the issue. most people are saying second trimester. we need to talk about that. >> what is next for you? you are up for reelection. >> i would love to continue that conversation and continue to stump in swing states.

i know the issues. i have been talking about this stuff for a very long time and i want to help our candidate win big in november. >> thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> that was nancy mace. we will get some latest numbers here. polls have been closed for more than an hour with donald trump leading the key hallie biden about 15 points. it is still early. 15 points is not too bad. >> some of that is the early voting coming in. what we need to pay attention to is where these votes are coming from. we talked about this earlier. there are certain counties that will not only be extremely populist, they will be overwhelmingly trumped. that is what will change the calculus. the official numbers that come

in, they will be trickling in, we could see the lead increase by a lot. if it stays above 15%, that goes against the argument of trump sides saying they blew her out of the water and she needs to get out of the race right now. that helps her argument that she can do better than expected. and that she has a good chance at super tuesday. the polls are not showing that. but that will not stop her from making the argument if she has a loss in the teens. >> we heard nancy mace. interesting relationship and trajectory. since getting to congress. just two years ago trump-endorsed her primary challenger. mace went on to beat her by eight points. this all happened after there

was a challenge to mark sanford and made that district into more of a purple district. redistricting has changed the makeup. we are still awaiting a court decision on that. tony what you see about nancy mace and what her relationship is with trump? she has a couple of primary challengers this june. one who ran for governor and her former chief of staff. what does that say to you when your own people are running against you? >> she has a fraught relationship with trump, as you pointed out. one of the most famous things is after trump endorsed her, she did selfies in front of trump tower. this has gone back and forth. i am desperately interested to see how that primary plays out when her own former chief of staff is against her. the question is will he and the

other divide the other boats. she is fighting in a district that could end up looking different than the district she has won in in the past. if that happens, that speaks all the more into what you just heard her say. talking about she needs to talk about purple issues, women's issues and things like that. it is very interesting. her path in congress has definitely been an interesting thing to follow with the turnover in her office. a few scandals here and there. it has been interesting to follow. she will definitely be pining for trump's endorsement for her reelection. >> probably one endorsement she will not be getting his nikki haley. she wanted that endorsement and she wanted that endorsement and she wanted it last go-round because nikki haley did endorse her in the last race.

she raised money for her. then all of a sudden, like tim scott, things go the way they do. things change with donald trump. >> nikki haley is very good at raising money. she raised money for nancy mace. whether or not she gets in from his fundraising, i doubt there will be a lot given out. the leadership in congress will help her out. the bigger question is what about the national republican committee, which is out of money? every penny could go to reelecting donald trump. >> the rnc is looking to pass a

resolution to prohibit them from spending money for trump's legal bills. we are seeing the change in the republican national committee in favor of donald trump. he was on stage with him. ronna mcdaniel is the chairwoman right now. a big change with the rnc. could there be a possibly contested convention? >> it is a consolidation of power. you do not want a contested convention. i cannot see nikki haley doing that. that would tarnish her image with republicans so incredibly much. but you have to cover all of your bases.

as trump is consolidating support with every type of republican, one of the things about south carolina is we have every flavor of republican. you saw mike huckabee come in and focus on the upstate where the evangelicals are. you had mitt romney come and focus on business people in the midlands and the low country. all of that has changed. it has consolidated behind trump . this move at the national party level is an extension of that. >> we have some new numbers we will look at as the polls closed a while ago. the lead is growing for trump. 19 points. we are moving up to that 20% category. it is still very early. i think it is about 30% of results in right now.

we are seeing about a 20% margin between trump and haley. we were also talking about early voting a moment ago. now that we have true early light stash voting in south carolina. talk to us about those counties and the differences? >> i will be interested to see how support for trump in greenville is fundamentally different between those who voted early and those who voted in person. there are very strong bases for donald trump. when the early votes came in, they looked a lot closer. i don't know how many of those votes were counted. there were more people who did early voting in the republican

primary than everybody who voted in the democratic primary. only about a quarter is many democrats showed up. that wasn't overwhelming number that came in for the republicans. in person voting as we just pointed out, could approach records. we will have to see. that would be surprising given how tiny the field is. >> it was already expected for trump to win this race. but still there is a lot of enthusiasm out there. what do you have for us? >> we usually talk to you on the democratic side of the election process.

you played a unique role in this process. tell me a little bit about your role. >> i am the south carolina senior advisor for primary voting. >> earlier this week you had a press at the statehouse. you were trying to get the message out to democrats and independents eligible to vote in the republican primary. explain the messaging and purpose behind that? >> our purpose is to preserve and protect democracy. we want to do that by any means necessary. whether you are a democrat or an independent. you had an opportunity tonight to vote for nikki haley against donald trump. not because you love nikki haley but because you are concerned

about the other candidate. >> there were concerns. any concerns that the action in doing so would hurt president biden further down the road? >> this actually helps president biden. the more it brings in resources. this gives president biden time to build resources. and come up with a strategy in order to win. we know donald trump will be the nominee eventually. >> we just had a conversation with jenny sanford. she said nikki haley needs to continue her messaging moving forward. she said she will not drop out of the race. she also said that people and the media need to start taking

her seriously. when you were on the ground, but were you hearing from democrats and independents? when it came to how they would test of their ballots if they cast one at all? >> a lot of people were skeptical about nikki haley. this is not about her. this is about the future of our country and whether you will be able to vote in 2028. if trump is our president, it is highly likely that we will not be able to vote in 2028. if president biden is our president, we will still have our democracy. >> what has been the reaction from democrats and republicans. what do you guys need to do moving forward? >> the reaction from republicans is not been the best.

but from haley voters it is a wonderful reaction. faith understand this is the general public. for the united states of america. not just for a certain subset of america. they have been excited. something that cats were not favorable other -- of it. our democracy matters. our ancestors fought to keep this democracy alive. they are trying to understand that. it can help us become a more perfect nation. >> thank you so much. i will let you enjoy the wonderful, loud music. >> thank you. many times over the last two weeks and months we have seen nikki haley in iowa and new

hampshire and here in south carolina. we talked about how nikki haley was always a strong republican. why is a democrat with someone vote for nikki haley? >> that is something that is a double-edged sword strategically. on the one hand, a democrat who shows up to vote for nikki haley absolutely is not voting for nikki haley. they are voting against donald trump. some polls show her having a better shot against joe biden. that shows me that they are desperately afraid of another trump presidency. as much as they dislike haley, your average democrat is not a big fan because she is so conservative, that says they are more willing to accept a haley presidency that i trump

presidency. that really speaks to the level of fear among democrats of another trump presidency. >> we have not heard from the former governor yet. the polls have been closed for a while now. we heard from the former president. we are willing -- waiting to hear from former governor haley. there will be more pressure for her to drop out. she has already said she will not do that. what does she need to do in this speech tonight to really sure up people and keep the money coming anti--- nt people coming out? >> she has always shown defiance. she challenges others. she is fond of saying i like being underestimated. a lot of people have underestimated her up their own detriment.

she plans on going forward. i think she will have to strike a note of defiance and say i still need to be in this to give people a real choice. and continued the message that we are not crowning anybody. if she keeps her promise and stays in the race, i think she will have to strike a note of defiance. >> when we talk about a hypothetical matchup between nikki haley and joe biden and she continues to say she would be the strongest candidate against joe biden, what happens to that polling if donald trump has a running mate like tim scott or kristi noem? does that change the point? >> normally i would say at this stage in the american republic, the vice president does not matter as much.

but we saw with joe biden taking kamala harris, that angered and upset a lot of republicans. that vice presidential choice might be becoming relevant again. early on, picking a vice president who balanced you with another part of the country was absolutely critical. then we got to the place where it did not matter. we are seeing it become relevant again. trump is deftly not going to pick somebody who is not a strong cheerleader. not somebody who people will say, i am actually voting for the vice president. >> that is why never thought nikki haley would be his vice presidential pick. we are still willing -- waiting to hear from the former governor. we have some data which is essentially exit polling that we saw.

one of the questions they were asking voters they talked to was about the investigations into trump and these criminal trials going forward. we are talking about him having classified documents in florida as well as other cases against him. we will see stuff going forward. does nikki haley stay in this race to be the sounding board to bounce back against donald trump with these cases going to trial? he is focused on these cases instead of the american people. >> this is why he cannot beat biden. that is the argument she would have to make. the problem for her is she will have already claimed the nomination. he has been losing. but now this is a criminal case.

his followers see this as persecution. just like they themselves believe they are persecuted. to give you an example, look at his strong support among evangelicals. in 2014 or 2015, they were not behind him. they did not see him as a godly man. now they are behind him. that is not because they suddenly see him as a godly man. they see somebody who they think will fight for them. you can justify it. god chose imperfect people. david had a mistresses husband murdered. joshua challenged god when he was called. you can justify it didn't flee even if you don't think that trump is that guy.

he is someone who will fight for them because more and more evangelicals are feeling persecuted. like america will no longer be a christian nation. the trials and all of this that trump is spinning, he says to dci of being persecuted? that really solidifies his support among core supporters and gets the more fired up. the more charges filed against him, the more support he has. what will nikki haley be able to say about it? depending on whether or not and when she pulls out of the race. >> we are going to hear from the former governor momentarily. voters say that these charges are an attempt to undermine him. rather than a legitimate attempt to enforce the law. there are some concerns that he

is too extreme to win the general election. do you think people really grasp how unique a situation our country will be in as this progresses? >> i think a lot of folks are deeply concerned because they are feeling that we are getting to an existential crisis. after january 6, i did not think i could be surprised anymore. it was an attack of the heart of our democracy. what we have seen is that has been turned into, these were heroes. that and there it it has changed so much. ♪ >> we will leave south carolina

education tv. nikki haley is addressing her supporters after losing tonight's primary. life coverage here on c-span. ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. you are a rowdy bunch. but i love that about you. thank you. i want to start off thinking my family. i am so incredibly blessed.

i was able to speak with michael this morning. his support has been amazing. the kids have really stepped up. sometimes too much. in a way that has made me so proud. i am blessed because i have the ability to actually go vote today with my mother. there is something very special with the fact that she was a lawyer in india and she was named one of the first female judges. she was never able to sit on the bench. the fact that she could go with me and cast her ballot for her daughter. i want to thank my parents sued taught me strength and grace.

i want to thank michael's parents who have been unbelievably supportive. and i want to thank my brother and sister and family for always supporting us. i feel blessed tonight. even when it has been tough, i have not lost sight of that. i have felt god's grace every step of the way. i am blessed to have served the state that raised me. i look forward to be doing that more. we are very grateful for the

good people of south carolina. thank you. [applause] it is a blessing to know that across our state, everyone wants to bring back the america we know and love. that is the underlying message of what happened today. i want to congratulate donald trump on his victory. and i want to thank the people of south carolina for using the power of your voice. no matter the result, i love the people of our state. i love what we accomplished together. i love how we united during our worst challenges and tragedies. i have always seen our state as a family.

families are honest with each other. they say the hard truth. that is what i have done this entire campaign. and that is what i will do now. what i saw today was south carolina's frustration without direction. i have seen that same frustration nationwide. i share it. i feel it in my core. i could not be more worried about america. it seems like our country is falling apart. here is the thing, america will come apart if we'd make the wrong choices. this has never been about me or my political future. we need to beat joe biden in november.

i don't believe donald trump can be joe biden. nearly every day, trump drives people away. including with his comments just yesterday. today in south carolina we are getting about 47% of the vote. that is about what we got in new hampshire as well. i will count it. i know 40% is that 50%. i also know 40% is not some tiny group.

our there are huge numbers of voters in a republican primary who are saying they want an alternative. i said earlier this week that no matter what happens in south carolina, i will continue to run for president. i am a woman of my word.

i am not giving up this fight and a majority of americans disapprove of both donald trump and joe biden. south carolina has spoken. we are the fourth state to do so. in the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. they have the right to a real choice. not a soviet style election with only one candidate. i have a duty to given that choice. we cannot afford four more years of bidens failures. or trump's lack of focus.

we are at 34 trillion in debt and counting. not even a third of our eight graders are efficient in reading. families cannot afford groceries. 9 million illegals succumb to our border with enough sentinel -- fentanyl to kill everything american. beyond our borders, the world is on fire. war is spreading more every day. if we are not strong, those wars will draw america further in. it is not just about policy. we will not get out of a downward spiral if we keep obsessing over the past. does anyone seriously think joe biden or donald trump will unite our country?

one of them called his fellow americans fascists. the other because fellow americans vermin. they are not fighting for our country's future. they are demanding we fight each other. the younger generation, my children's generation, knows it better than anyone. they deserve better. they deserve leadership. i will keep fighting for them and for you and for all of us. from the start of this campaign, i have made clear that i am

running for president to save america. i am running to remind us what it means to be american. in the america i know and love, we believe in each other. and we believe that america's inherent goodness. now is the time to renew that believe. now is the time to remember who we are. we are citizens of the greatest country in human history. we must lead now more than ever before. i am grateful to south carolina. i always have been and i always will be. and i am grateful that today is not the in of our story.

we are headed to michigan tomorrow. and we are headed to the super tuesday states throughout all of next week. we will keep fighting for america and we will not rest until america when -- wins. i want to give a few thank you's. there has been too many to thank. i really have to single out congressman ralph norman. he has had pressure on him from every side. that he needed to not support me and step away from me.

he always said there is no way. i want to thank senator tom davis. representative nathan ballantine. and representative mike nice, who were there. we had other supporters but they were constantly there. you have been there from the very beginning. you will forever be my desk made. mike, i will not know what to do what i don't see you at an event. i am very grateful. they are rock stars for our state that we should all be thankful for. the mayor of myrtle beach really stepped up. former congressman gretchen barrett.

the story behind me and her is we duked it out in our first primary when i ran for governor. to have him call me and say not only do i want to help you, i will do whatever you need to do. thank you for the prayers and texts and encouragement. i am grateful for that. everybody needs a friend. when you have a friend who was

one of the first to greet me when i joined the house of representatives and when everyone was not nice and they gave me a hard time, he would always complement of outfit. 10 have you show up and go to every event and print thousands of letters and stuff mailboxes and do the things he did not have to do. to my women. we have our chapters in every state in this country.

if you want to talk about a force, do not mess with the women in america. thank you for the support, the encouragement, the love, everything you have given. thank you south carolina. thank you to everyone who has been here today. ♪

♪

>> coverage of the south carolina republican primary continuing now. remarks there from nikki haley speaking from charleston to her supporters. she is vowing to stay in the race. she says this is not the end of her story despite losing to the former president, donald trump, who came in tonight with his fourth victory in the primary contest. let's take a look the results. 54% of the vote in for the former president. nikki haley at 39.1%. this race was cald at about 7:00 p.m. eastern time this evening.

now we will turn to all of you and get all of your reaction. republicans can dial in. democrats can dial in. we want to hear from south carolina voters. all others can call us at (202) 748-8003. take a look t post from the ace associated press. it says thfoer president has now swept every contest tha counted four republican delegates with victories in iowa, new hampshire,evada, and the u.s.irn islands. trump is the first nonincumbent publican to win all three of

iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina. you are up first. did you vote today? >> i did. >> who did you vote for? >> i voted for trump. the only thing that nikki haley did today was fold under pressure. >> why did you vote for the former president? >> i think biden has been one of the worst presidents of my lifetime. i did not live through carter. biden has been pretty bad. it was pretty good under trump. that her than it is now at least. host: were you in the state when the key had a ran for governor?

caller: yes and i voted for her. host: did you vote for her twice? caller: no, once. nikki haley is waiting at a gas spot -- guest spot on msnbc. she has totally ruined her career in south carolina. because, you have not seen the ads she has shown here. how trump is the worst person ever. that is not going to fly. host: what has it been like? how many ads have you seen? caller: i have not seen a bunch recently because i do not watch mainstream television.

they are blaming him for all these charges against him. all of this about the election. he tried to overthrow the election. didn't he actually give over the keys to the government to joe biden on january 20 and 21? didn't he do that? there was no insurrection. now him trying to overthrow the government. that did not happen, did it? host: we will stop you there. nikki haley outspent donald trump on ads by a lot.

$16.5 million to $1.3 million. welcome to the conversation. did you vote today? >> absolutely i did. host: who did you vote for? caller: i voted for donald trump. being from a small town in south carolina, nikki haley did nothing. she turned her back on everybody in the state. all she wanted to do was push her agenda. it was not her agenda, it with it was everybody else is left side. she is saying she is on the right wing but really she is fake. the previous caller have the right idea. he was fed up with it. host: it sounds like you and the previous caller now view nikki

haley as moderate? or to the left? caller: 100%. she has an agenda and if it does not benefit her, she does not care. she has lived down the south carolina people time and time again. host: did you vote for her when you ran for governor -- he ran for governor? caller: absolutely not. history is a huge thing in this country. when you are in high school, what did you learn in schools? what did you have in the books? everything. we don't need to forget about the civil war or u.s. history or american history. we need to remember it so it does not repeat. they pushed to erase it. they are pushing to erase everything. we do not need that. host: the last time nikki haley was on the ballot statewide in the palmetto state was in 2014. a decade ago.

she won with about 56% of the vote. that was her second bid for governor. when she ran in 2010 the first time for governor, she won with 46.9% of the vote. your thoughts on the south carolina primary and the campaign so far? marlene? marlene in montgomery village? a democratic caller. caller: i did not vote for trump because she does not care about people with mental illness or anything like that. host: ok. a republican, your thoughts on the campaign? caller: i think it is a mistake for her to stay in the race.

it is a waste of money. this is making trump look more like a victim, which is his whole persona at this point. that is all he has resorted to. his confidence is off the rails. host: you think she should get out? caller: at this point, i don't think he is a serious person. he is off selling shoes. he could care less. he is running for president to keep himself out of jail. host: should nikki haley stay in the race to challenge him? caller: she shouldn't. the republican race is over. it will be trump no matter what. you could blow $100 million on nikki haley in the next statement it would not make a difference. it would not gain her five more votes. i don't think the republicans have a real candidate this year. host: ok.

nikki haley's campaign manager told us about her approach to michigan which is tuesday. and then super tuesday and beyond. >> we know this is an uphill battle. we know it is difficult. we know the mass is challenging. this has never been about who can win a republican primary. this is about who can win in november. and finally get our country back on track. no matter what rants that trump gets on on twitter, he will not beat joe biden in november. he will take the entire republican ticket down with him. trump has always screamed about the polls and denied reality. he just really tweeted that nikki haley is getting absolutely clobbered by cricket joe biden in the polls. i am beating him by a lot, as much as 20 points. that is completely absurd. in no world is that accurate.

the latest national survey shows nikki haley up 18 points over joe biden. we do not need to go through all of this today but you will see time and time again that nikki haley is clearly the strongest general election candidate when it comes to the polls. if you do not buy the polls, let's look at history. in 2016, trump won the white house, the republicans got the house and senate. and then the luster wore off. people are willing to give trump a pass initially, but it became tiring. independence and suburban women were sick of the name-calling. they went to the ballot box. there is a reason abiding and the democrats want to run against trump. they know they can beat him again. if trump is the nominee, the house is gone. the senate met shrinks -- map shrinks. this is the best senate map the

republicans have for the rest of the decade. we will continue to lose. if trump is the nominee, we will continue to be the hate and debate and chaos. we know the odds here. we also know the stakes. we think that a lot of republicans across the country do as well. we are placing our faith in the american people. we are willing to bet that they have a lot more courage than the political cast -- class or the media that minds up behind trump even having a lot of disaster he is. we will make a case until that door closes. republicans want to win and save the country, we ask them to join us. we have one shot to get this right. host: nikki haley's campaign manager on her effort to stay in this race. she will continue beyond tonight despe r loss with 63% reporting, the former president wins another state.

60.6% to8.7 percent. those numbers will change once more reporting comes in. when it is at 100%, you will see those percentages change. but is is where it is right now about two hours after the polls closed in the palmetto state. this is the delegate count so fa heading into tonight's contest, the former president had 63 delegateded to him from the previous contests. nii haley at 17. ron desantis, even though he dropped out, still has nine delegates. deep with the delegate count at c-span.org/campaign. that is the delegate count heading into tonig. cnn was reporting out from south carolina you can a another 38

toredent donald trump's number right there, which would give him 101 and nikki hey at zero. at that in there were still 12 unass the stawi winner in south carolina gets 29 delegates -- 50 delegates are at stake total. the statewide winner gets 29 of those delegates, so that would be the former president, and the winner of each state's seven congressional district gets three delegates. that is thether 21. cnn reporting the former president has 38. she got the 29 awarded to the state winner and picked up some of those congression districts as well. those numbers will continue to change.

nikki haley versus donald trump, that will be the head-to-head matchup in the 2024 republican primary. she says her story does not end tonight. she will go on to michigan on super tuesday and the states that follow. we will get reaction tonight to the campaign and the results in south carolina. bernie, pennsylvania, republican. caller: i have been a republican all my life, i thought in vietnam. i am 76 years old, and as i speak right here my heart is sunken. donald trump is an insurrectionist. i had to break that news to my fellow republicans. he should be found guilty. if it goes to a trial, he will be found guilty, and i believe our democracy is ruined. the fact that nikki haley will not address that is boggling to me. it is boggling the rest of the

republican party stands behind donald trump knowing he is an insurrectionist. host: take a look at this exit poll. this is from cbs's data analyst. most gop primary voters would consider theorr president fit to serve as president even if he we cvicted of a cme this is 63% of republican imyoters in south carolina swed that yes, that he would still be fit for president. this is a familiar pattern says the analyst with the majorities agreei i iowa a n hampshire. keep in mind many who would not consid h for it will vote republican in the fall anyway, but what do you make of that number? caller: i believe our news media is brainwashing. if anybody sets out there and

watches c-span or pbs newshour, you will see that donald trump is guilty and our democracy has been destroyed by this. i supported ronald reagan, but he is part of this. he repealed the fairness doctrine, the rise to the media outlets brainwashing. they know that donald trump is guilty. sean hannity knows that donald trump is guilty. key will still say to his people that he is innocent, and democracy is ruined. it is ruined from this. ask a military veteran, i am sitting here watching this and watching and it is disgusting that these people will vote for that. it boggles my mind. i believe democracy in this country is now broken. host: that is bernie in pennsylvania. macy is in charleston, south carolina. are you a republican, democrat? caller: i would identify myself as an independent.

host: which primary did you vote in? caller: i voted in the republican primary today. host: how did you vote? caller: i voted for nikki haley. i actually did everything, your prayer guest, i feel exactly as he does as far as what has been going on. if nikki haley were president, i do not have to worry about that she would tear down the guardrails of law and put in her children, and i just do not think this country will survive another trump presidency. i think it would become something that people would not like. host: macy's thoughts in charleston. a few voted for republicans your whole life? caller: i have voted for both republicans and democrats.

i put more for the person that i do most of the time anything else. host: so why did you vote in today's republican primary and not in the south carolina democratic primary earlier this month? caller: will, -- well, because i would like to see a sane republican again, and i actually miss being able to talk to people sanely. it seems like they are stuck in one mode, and they are so stuck in what they believe that you cannot even have a rational discussion anymore. host: ok, macy's thoughts in south carolina, voting for both republicans and democts this is from cbs's data analyst with more exit polling.

when did you decide, the vast majority 85% of south carolina republican primary vers decided to devote for before this month, and it s before january for 8 in 10. that is consistent with reelection pulling in february which found the vast majority were already firmly decided. the associated rest in their vote track survey today, tonight, they were talking to voters as they left the polls, and this is what they found out about republicans or all of the voters that participated today in the republican primary in south carolina. 9 in 10 are wte roughly seven in0 are over 45. 2/3 did not have a college degree. 8 in 10 favor the building of a

u.-mico border wall. that is from an associated press survey in the 2024 south caro lina primary. he was your reaction to the results right there on your screen with 63% reporting as well as this campaign season so far. annie, north carolina, republican. your thoughts? caller: i wanted to vote for donald trump, because we do need to make america great again. he was good with the economy and the border, because the border has gotten really out of control, and the economy has really gotten out of control. host: i will have you and others mute your television. just listen and talk to your front tonight. anthony, this contest is headed toward your state. caller: yes it is on tuesday,

and i have already voted early, which is a new thing in michigan, but in the democratic primary. i voted uncommitted, and it does not matter who the democrats nominate, i am sure they will switch up their nominee at the convention. you have got to hand it to the republicans, at least they had a debate. there were more democratic than the democratic party and their primary process. host: tell us about your uncommitted vote and the effort in your state to protest the incumbent president, democratic president joe biden. why are you and others voting uncommitted? caller: well, primarily because of president biden's support of israel's horrific slaughter in palestine obviously, and it is not just arab americans and muslims. young people, aggressive people,

it is sickening. we will register our discontent over biden, but beyond that i already exited the democratic party since 2016, so i don't know. host: anthony, detroit, michigan, that friday, february 27, this tuesday. terrance, pine bluff, arkansas, democratic color. caller: donald trump should be automatically pulled. the only thing he is doing is getting money for his legal fees . that is the only reason he is in the race. donald trump is an insurrectionist, and the guy bernie said at the best. the reason why the senate is voting behind donald trump, because that they are scared. the reason why they are scared, if they go against donald trump somebody is going to come to their house and harass their family all the time.

that is all. donald trump is a thug. he has got people out there, if the republican senators like lindsey graham and all of the other ones say anything about donald trump, they know they are going to be scared for their family, their daughters or anything. people come to harass, break into the house and do anything. host: terrance and lindsey graham was on stage with the former president tonight when you give remarks shortly after the contest was called for him. if you miss that, find it on our website c-span.org. here were the rules were votg today in south carolina. registration only is required to vote, not to affiliate with the were party, so if u were a democrat you cldote t you could not have voted in the democratic partylier in this month, the primary. each voter can participate only get one party's primary even if

eyre on separate days at registration deadlines wer january 4 for the democratic primary january 2 for the republicmary. david wright of cnn with exit polling. from versus haley voters versus the cnn exit polls, trump's told those that spoke to them, was your vote mainly for your candidate, 91% said yes. eight percent said against the opponent nikki haley. haley supporters said was your vote mainly for your candidate, 59% said yes, their vote was for nikki haley. 40% said it was against former president donald trump. mark, south carolina, democratic caller. which primary did you participate in? caller: i voted in the republican primary. host: why? caller: because i wanted to vote

against donald trump more so than nikki haley, although if a republican won the general election in the fall i would happily support nikki haley, because she is not donald trump. host: ok. linda, rockville, maryland. it do you say so far? caller: nikki haley are suffering the same thing joe biden has suffered since that man left the white house in 2021 as a sore loser and an insurrectionist, and if any excerpt from the cpac committee, you see why -- you see what is wrong with the former republican party. they are not republicans. they are trump trash, every single one of them. the senate, the house, they

should lose every single person who claims to be republican throw the hell out. get democrats in there, and trump, i hope he winds up in solitary confinement with every single one of those people in the house and in the senate who are trump trash. host: lynda's opinion in rockville. stephanie, republican. caller: can you hear me? host: we can, did you vote in the republican primary? caller: i actually voted on thursday, not today. host: there is early voting there. how did you vote? caller: i voted for trump. host: tell us why. caller: i voted for trump not because it is his personality. it to hang out with a person like that, i would probably not be keen on his personality. i am putting personality aside. the reason i voted for trump as we have got to secure this

border. there are too many people coming through. a young, beautiful lady just got murdered at uga, go bulldogs -- just got murdered by an illegal from venezuela. they are holding illegal green cards. we have got to fix this, and when trump was in office the first time he was working on this, and we have got to fix it. host: so immigration was were top issue and while you voted the way to get did? caller: absolutely, i do not care who trump likes, and how he talks. at the end of the day he has a great business person. he makes good decisions, and he can make is to be secure. host: your comments exit this example, for cnn exit pull. most important issue, 41% tonight said immigration. 31%, the economy.

11%, foreign policy, and abortion came in fourth at 10%. william, cleveland, ohio, republican. caller: with regard to the allegation of insurrection, you have to realize that both parties politicians always say that they represent the people and it is their house. i have got a story for you. someone tried to break into my house, and i made them sit and wait on the poorest -- porch for 4 hours. do you know what they charge them with, menacing and trespassing. if that houses the people's house, they should not have done property damage and should not have tried to fight with the police, but they did those things. is it an insurrection? i don't think so.

host: so you were voting for the former president? caller: i beg your pardon. i am going to vote for trump, but i am hoping nikki haley stays in writing also -- running also. i wish that vivek would have stayed in as well. aside from that, with regard to 2016, i did not vote in the election when obama ran for office the first time because i thought it was good for america to have an african-american as president in the country, but by the second time i knew what direction he was going in, and i decided that that point, here biden is running against trump, so underwriting on my ballot i vote in -- wrote in vladimir

putin or any isis or al qaeda leader. now we got biden and he sold the country up to the chinese role of the investment money and nancy pelosi and all of them into the china economic energy. host: william in ohio it says he will vote for the former president but says nikki haley should stay in this race and he wished vivek ramaswamy had also stated this race. the former palmetto governor nikki haley after losing her home state tonight says she is carrying on. the next contest is michigan. earlier today we spoke with the detroit news political editor about the next major primary contest, michigan, which is scheduled for tuesday. >> so the republicans, nikki haley is coming into the state on sunday and making a two day

swing, shiga said she does not dropping out of this race and that she is going to campaign. she is on tv in michigan, she had a $500,000 ad buy, there is some presence, some effort being made by nikki haley to energize some moderate republicans, republicans that think particularly in the suburbs of detroit who do not want to vote for donald trump, but they would like to participate in the primary, so they are trying to motivate and get these voters to turn out. at the same time, donald trump has a commanding lead in most polls and has the advantage of incumbency. he was just in the state last weekend. he held a campaign rally at the international airport at a hanger. it was 20 degrees out, the wind

chill was seven and people turned up by the hundreds to hear him speak, and he clearly has the advantage here. host: the republicans will hold their primary on tuesday at the state party will hold a nominating convention on march 2. what is going on with these two events and what does that mean for delegates? >> because the democratic legislature of michigan moved up the primary date for the dnc, because michigan has been trying to get closer to iowa and new hampshire for several cycles. because of this the republican national committee was going to penalize michigan for having its primary too early, so the michigan republican party came up with a solution. they will form a caucus, 2/3 of michigan's delegates to be awarded through the caucus.

the people participating or elected accounting conventions two weeks ago. a little byzantine process of delegates coming out, electing slates to go to this caucus. there is one caveat. there might be two caucuses. we have an ongoing dispute in the republican party of michigan , a dispute. someone who ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state won the cherries when one year ago in february, she was voted out by what looks like a majority get the executive committee back in january, because the party is in total disarray. they have tens of thousands of dollars of cash on hand rather than multiple millions and organizationally they do not have anything of an operation. they have abandoned their headquarters, so incomes are new chairperson, a former congressman from west michigan

who was the capacitor to the netherlands under donald trump. he comes in with trump's blessing, gets elected by what had to be a majority of the executive committee. the republican national committee is recognizing him as the legitimate german, so he is going to hold his own caucus in grand rapids on march 2, and christina is saying she is going to hold her own caucus in detroit that same day. one little extra thing here in all of this drama. there is a lawsuit in grand rapids where they went and asked a judge to look at the bylaws and declare who is the actual chair of the michigan republican party, so this judge could rule this week maybe even on the primary day, as early as tuesday on who is the legitimate chair

of the michigan republican party. that could cause christina if she loses to abandon her caucus in detroit. otherwise we might have slates going to the republican national convention in july. host: on the democratic side how will the delegates be awarded? guest: the delegates get awarded based on who gets 50% -- 15% of the vote, so president biden is clearly favored to sweep up a lot of delegates if not most of them, but he has got this competition called uncommitted that is on the ballot. there is a line on the ballot called uncommitted. dean phillips canceled the campaign swing through the state, so he is not doing anything of the major presidents -- presence.

biden has said surrogates here. the vice president was here earlier last week, and there has been an effort to drum up votes by the biden campaign. a few weeks ago meeting with uaw members and swinging by restaurants in the suburbs of detroit, but this uncommitted effort, around zero of this effort to vote uncommitted is a protest vote against joe biden's policies toward israel residing in dearborn where more than half of the population is arab or muslim, and they are a large palestinian population that lives in and around dearborn. at are trying to mobilize to turn out this protest about. i see democrats from different parts of the state commenting on social media that they will vote

uncommitted as well. it will be interesting to see, because of wayne county essentially. there are some black detroiters core mobilizing to vote uncommitted unhappy with some of the president's policies, and they do not have another choice at this stage, so that will be one of the big things to watch tuesday night is do they break 10%? do they break 15%? if they break 15% then they get delegates. that only gets really interesting if we were due the contested convention or brokered convention, but otherwise this is more just trying to get the president to change his position toward israel and its war against hamas in gaza.

host: thank you for the explanation. and the michigan prima will take place on tuesday, february 27. foowing that there will be a republican ccuin idaho saturday march 2 and smaller coest, the d.c. republican caucus, the north data republican caucus on march 4 followed by super tuesday. several states will be voting at the primary contest on tuesday march fifth, andollow all of our camping coverage on c-span.org. losing her home state vowed to carry on. the wall strurnal reporting whey announced her presidenalid more than he ago south ca's early slot seemed like an opportunity for her. now it cou bome the scene of

the biggest embarrassment of her political career. she has set her benchmark, 43% of the vote share. she has said she needs to keep increasing her proportion and subsequent contests. take a look at the results now with 74% reporting. she has that 39.2%. her threshold, hebenchmark she said, 33%. right now she is just under that. thformer president with 60.2% of the vote. david, republican, did you vote in the contest? caller: yeah, i did. host:: did you vote for? caller: i voted for trump. host: how come? caller: three big reasons, the border, taxes, and the economy.

and i think all of that was heading in the right direction when he was in office, and now it is all gone to pot. host: and what is your view of his challenger, your former governor? caller: i have no use for her at all. host: what does that mean? caller: i would not vote for her for dogcatcher. host: charles, south carolina as well. which primary did you vote in? caller: republican. host: how did you vote? caller: republican. host: which candidate? caller: i am sorry, trump. host: why did you vote for the former president? caller: he is the main one who can lead this country back at the right way again, i have read the call in 70% negativity toward president trump, and i do

not agree with it. look at the votes, the votes of the american people say different, and i am a vietnam veteran. that guy a little while ago talking about his military service. in combat veteran, vietnam, pretty high decorated and i am voting for donald trump, because he is the only man who is certifiably knowledgeable to run this country. host: i will leave it there. in the latest ap vote cast survey of primary voters today, 4 in 10 liky south carolina primary voters have at least some concerns that the former president is too extreme to win in november. 6 in 10 have a favorable opinion of senatorimcott, a possible

umvice presidential pick. 6 in 10 south carolina voters oppose continuing aid to ukraine, another indication of thstrong night the former president had an nikki haley has been a continued supporter of aid to ukraine. let's hear from marie in virginia, democratic caller. caller: i am definitely voting nikki haley. i cannot believe that people want to vote for trump. i think that the immigration, that is what he is running on, but as far as the american taxpayer, he is completely out of touch with reality. he does not know what it means to live paycheck by paycheck. the comments that he has made about women, i cannot believe

that women are voting for trump. but he said he is going to do just listening to him, i cannot believe as many people are backing him. host: i thought you were done, i was going to leave it there because we are done for the eving, what our conversation it will pick up tomorrow morning with all of you on "washington journal," we will get your reaction sunday 7:00 a.m. eastern live forheepublican primary. although all of our camping coverage ifou go to c-span.org or on our free mobile video cap -- app c-span now. we will brg you back to earlier in th evening when former psint donald trump address his supporters in south cali after notching his fourth victory in this republican primary contest. ♪