'Bad night for Trump': Experts say Super Tuesday signaled election night trouble ahead

Super Tuesday had big surprises for voters and candidates alike, despite predicted forerunners President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump claiming the majority of the states.

With 15 states and one territory at stake, Trump had won 12 states with 271 delegates as of midnight, according to predictions from the New York Times and the Washington Post, losing Vermont and 17 delegates to challenger Nikki Haley.

Meanwhile, Biden took 15 states but lost American Samoa and six delegates to unknown Democrat, according to the Post and Times projections.

While 17 delegates might seem like a minor loss to a Republican candidate with 554 delegates, hundreds more than any of his challengers, political experts say Haley's victory was a bad sign for Trump.

"Great night for Joe Biden, and a bad night for Trump," said Fernand Amandi, a political analyst who frequently appears on MSNBC. "Why? Uncommitted 'protest vote' against Biden has been a total dud but the Haley anti-Trump Republican vote share against Donald Trump is real."

Both Biden and Trump won states across the U.S: California, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Maine, predictions show.

Biden also claimed victory in Iowa, where mail-in ballots wrapped Tuesday, and Utah, where Republican votes were still being counted late Tuesday night but showed Trump with a strong lead.

Yet while Trump delivered a victory speech — quickly and brutally fact checked by MSNBC — from Mar-a-Lago, where there was no open bar, political experts turned their eyes to Vermont and to exit polls across the U.S.

"Trump seems fine with ditching Haley’s supporters, but that could be to his peril in November," wrote USA Today columnist Ingrid Jacques. "[Haley] has consistently earned a sizable share of votes...her pull with non-MAGA Republicans and independents is strong. That should be a warning sign for Trump."

NBC News took particular notice of exit polls that they noted could spell trouble for the general election.

"The exit polls do provide some potential warning signs for him looking ahead to the general election, especially among more moderate and well-educated voters," their report notes.

"In both Virginia and North Carolina, around one-third of primary voters answered 'no' to whether they will vote for the GOP nominee regardless of who it is (31% in Virginia and 34% in North Carolina)."

The report also notes 37% of primary voters in Virginia and 31% in North Carolina said Trump would not be fit to be president if convicted of a crime.