Former President Donald Trump and his allies are hoping to use the South Carolina primary to muscle his remaining presidential primary opponents out of the race before the "Super Tuesday" contests can even be held, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are the two remaining significant opponents to Trump following the former president's romp to victory in the sparsely-attended Iowa Republican caucuses this week.
The New Hampshire primary is next on the calendar, coming on Tuesday — but Trump's team thinks they can land the killing blow in Haley's home state, where she also once served as governor.
Trump's team, reported the Times, "is looking ahead to the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24 as a 'Waterloo' for his primary rivals, according to one Trump adviser, likening the state to the battlefield where Napoleon met his final defeat.
"Their aim is to humiliate her in her home state." One Trump adviser, Chris LaCivita, told the paper that “South Carolina is where Nikki Haley’s dreams go to die.”
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Haley has emerged as one of the final GOP candidates angling to stop Trump's nomination, although she narrowly took third place behind DeSantis in Iowa.
Trump continues to poll well ahead of either candidate nationally, although at least some polling has suggested New Hampshire could be a close contest.
Consensus from strategists is that, to perform well, Haley will need unaffiliated voters to come out for her against Trump. LaCivita agreed, saying, “She basically has to turn the Republican primary into the unaffiliated primary.”
