Hillary Clinton eyes Donald Trump match-up after primary victory
Without mentioning Mr Trump’s name, the former US secretary of state made it clear she was already thinking about taking on the real estate mogul, whose recent string of victories made him the favorite to be the Republican nominee for the White House race.
Ms Clinton shot down Mr Trump’s campaign slogan of ‘Make America Great Again’ and his plans to build a wall on the Mexican border.
“Despite what you hear, we don’t need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great,” she told supporters in her victory speech in South Carolina, pausing for applause then adding, “but we do need to make America whole again.”
“Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers,” said Ms Clinton, who would be America’s first woman president.
Ms Clinton said she was not taking anything for granted after crushing Democratic rival Bernie Sanders on Saturday by 48 points and likely setting herself up for a good ‘Super Tuesday’ tomorrow, a key date in the nomination battle.
However, if Ms Clinton and Mr Trump win big tomorrow, as polls suggest, the chance of an election match-up between them increases, adding another twist to a presidential campaign that has defied convention as US voters vent frustration over economic uncertainty, illegal immigration and national security threats.
A Trump-Clinton election would embody the outsider vs establishment battle in American politics. Trump has never been elected to public office, while the former first lady has been a player in Washington for decades.
South Carolina was Ms Clinton’s third victory in the first four Democratic contests, raising more questions about whether democratic socialist Bernie Sanders will be able to expand his support beyond his base of predominantly white liberal voters.
Mr Sanders, who has energized the party’s liberal wing and brought young people to the polls by attacking income inequality and Wall Street excess, needs a breakthrough win in a key state in the next few weeks to keep his hopes alive.
“He’s got to pull off a surprise against Clinton soon or he won’t have time to recover,” said Phil Noble, a longtime Democratic activist in South Carolina.
He said Sanders’ momentum in South Carolina “fell off the table” after Clinton’s solid victory in Nevada on February 20.
In the Republican race, Trump and rival Marco Rubio accelerated their political slugfest over the weekend during dueling appearances in Arkansas and Georgia.
“The majority of Republican voters do not want Donald Trump to be our nominee, and ... they are going to support whoever is left standing that is fighting against him to ensure that we do not nominate a con artist,” said Mr Rubio.
