Trump wins Michigan primary in landslide as ex-president deals another blow to Nikki Haley

Former President Donald Trump ran away with Michigan’s Republican primary Tuesday night, cruising past rival Nikki Haley to secure his sixth consecutive win in a GOP contest.

Trump, 77, received 67.1% of the vote in the Great Lake State compared to Haley’s 27.7% support, with about 44% of the vote counted. The former president has now defeated Haley by double-digits in five states and the US Virgin Islands.

Trump thanked his supporters in Michigan attending a state GOP watch party in a phone call, where he called his margin of victory “far greater” than he expected.

“I just want to thank everybody, you’ve been so incredible. The numbers are far greater than we even anticipated,” Trump said on the call.

“We win Michigan; we win the whole thing,” he added, noting that November “cannot come fast enough.”

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra declared that Trump was now the “presumptive nominee” at the Grand Rapids watch party, according to NBC News.

Haley campaign spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas argued that Trump “losing about 35% of the vote” should serve as a “flashing warning sign for Trump in November.”

In a statement, Perez-Cubas also noted that since Trump’s 2016 victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “he lost Michigan Republicans [in] the state House, state Senate, and Governor’s mansion.”

“What was once a beacon for the conservative cause, the Michigan Republican Party is now fractured and divided,” she added.

“Let this serve as another warning sign that what has happened in Michigan will continue to play out across the country,” Perez-Cubas continued. “So long as Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket, Republicans will keep losing to the socialist left. Our children deserve better.”

Despite her string of defeats, the former South Carolina governor has vowed to continue her presidential bid at least through the March 5 Super Tuesday slate, when 874 delegates are available across 16 primaries and caucuses.

Haley, 52, courted Michigan voters the morning after her 20-point loss in South Carolina’s Saturday primary, arguing that polls showed she was the only candidate who could defeat President Biden in the general election.

Haley also claimed the former president had left the Michigan GOP “completely divided” over his claims that election fraud robbed him of victory in 2020.

On Tuesday morning, Haley refused to define what a “loss” would look like for her in Michigan, but said her goal was to remain “competitive.”

Former President Trump will win the Michigan Republican Primary Tuesday night, winning yet another early contest and additional delegates — bringing him one step closer to being able to formally secure the GOP nomination.

The Associated Press projected Trump will win the primary shortly after polls closed Tuesday night.

With the Michigan win, Trump has claimed victory in every primary and caucus of the 2024 GOP presidential primary cycle.