WORLD
Biden vows to beat Trump again
The US president secured a massive 96.4 percent of the votes in the first Democratic primary in South Carolina
United States President Joe Biden won the first Democratic primary in South Carolina on Saturday and vowed he would make Republican rival Donald Trump a loser for a second time in November’s election.
Kicking off his march to his party’s nomination, Biden secured a massive 96.4 percent of the votes, according to results with half the ballots tallied.
He swept past his only rivals on the ballot, self-help author Marianne Williamson, who won 2 percent, and Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips, who won 1.6 percent, US news organizations said.
“Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the presidency again — and making Donald Trump a loser — again,” Biden said in a statement.
He urged people to get out and vote in November, saying the stakes for the US could not be higher if Trump manages a sensational comeback to the Oval Office.
“The stakes in this election could not be higher. There are extreme and dangerous voices at work in the country — led by Donald Trump.”
Biden had said he was counting on South Carolina to repeat the feat when it launched his bid for the White House in 2020 after a series of stumbles.
Despite South Carolina being likely to remain in Republican hands in November, as it has done since 1980, Biden also regards the southern state as important as a proving ground for his support among Black voters.
A number of recent polls have however shown their support slipping, especially among young Black men, amid frustration that he has not addressed their priorities despite them backing him four years ago.
There were also concerns about turnout this time, with only a trickle of voters at polling stations visited by AFP in the historic city of Charleston as many people apparently viewed his victory as a foregone conclusion.
Several voters said Biden’s record as president was mostly satisfactory, while admitting there was a lack of enthusiasm for his second-term bid — but that they did not want to see Trump win.