Donald Trump and the Republicans counterparts ignited the battle of South Carolina on Wednesday, one day after Trump’s victory in New Hampshire, a victory that would reinstate him as the GOP front-runner.
“Something’s going on — it’s a movement,” Trump told NBC’s Today show after a win in which he doubled up the number of voters of his nearest competitor, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
A relentless Trump who holds a rally Wednesday night at Clemson University in South Carolina, got a deserving victory at New Hampshire eight days after a second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Which raised questions about his ability to generate votes to increase or boost his poll numbers.
Kasich caused an off-set by displacing Ted off his position in Iowa, so he now joins Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio on the list of Republicans seeking a head to head showdown with Trump for the GOP presidential nomination.
There is a possibility that the Republican race could soon be cut down. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had a disappointing showdown finishing sixth in New Hampshire, told supporters he would return to his home on Wednesday to assess the future of his campaign.
Meanwhile Kasich who is still enjoying his second place spotlight, he focused almost all of his campaign on New Hampshire, he told NBC’s Today show that the grass-roots organization he used in that state is one that “we will be able to use throughout the country.”
The whole republican traveling to South Carolina except Christie
Kasich, who flew overnight to South Carolina, said New Hampshire voters responded to his positive vibes — “I was the only one with a really positive message” , but he will battle harder at against Trump or any other candidate who attacks him now that he is emerging in the race.
“Somebody wants to mess with me, they’re messing with the wrong guy,” Kasich told NBC. “I’m not gonna sit there and be a marshmallow and have somebody pound me.”
The former Florida governor Jeb Bush, also traveled to South Carolina, he boldly stated that he has the organization and family history to win there while Kasich has virtually no organization in the Palmetto State. Bush said his presidential race is still very much alive after what appears to be a fourth-place finish in New Hampshire.
Bush also vowed to stand strong on his attacks on Trump, saying the New York businessman’s campaign is based on insults and disparagement, and a Trump nomination would highly damage the Republican Party in the fall election.
Republicans in South Carolina want “the most conservative candidate who can win — and that is me,” Bush told CNN.
Marco Rubio is also traveling to South Carolina, looking for a bounce back from what appeared to be a disappointing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire. Rubio, who had hoped to finish stronger than he did in Iowa, got a poor debate showout in New Hampshire and the “negative” media coverage that came with it.
“That’s on me,” Rubio told Fox News.
Ted Cruz is also traveling to South Carolina, though he won the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1 and declared success with his apparent third-place finish in New Hampshire.
As the votes went on in Tuesday, Cruz campaign team sent out a fundraising email telling their financiers: “We are just 11 days from the tipping point” of the Republican race — “the South Carolina primary.”
Christie is the only Republican who is not traveling to South Carolina, his criticism of Rubio during Saturday’s debate got him more into the spotlight, but his sixth-place finish in the New Hampshire primary retrogressed his campaign.
The New Jersey governor said he would “take a deep breath” and figure out the way forward.
Trump, speaking on Fox News, praised Christie and at the same time joked: “I want everybody to get out except for me.”
