Biden, Trump sweep Super Tuesday, with 2 exceptions
The candidates won most of their primaries, including in delegate-rich California and Texas
What happened?
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump nearly swept their respective primaries on Super Tuesday, including in delegate-rich California and Texas. But Nikki Haley won a surprise victory in Vermont's Republican primary and a little-known Democrat, Jason Palmer, beat Biden in American Samoa's caucus.
Who said what?
"Millions of voters" showed they are ready to "defend democracy" and "fight back against Donald Trump's extreme plan to take us backward," Biden said. Trump called Tuesday an "amazing night" but spent the bulk of his 20-minute speech criticizing Biden's America. Haley's campaign highlighted the "large block of Republican primary voters" showing "deep concerns about Donald Trump." Palmer said he learned he won American Samoa, 51 votes to Biden's 40, when "my phone started blowing up" with text messages.
The commentary
Trump's Super Tuesday "dominance" ensures he'll face Biden in "America's great presidential unpopularity contest," where "the two major parties are marching to nominate perhaps the only candidates who could lose to the other," The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial. There were "cautionary signs" for both candidates, The Associated Press said. Trump keeps losing a "stubborn chunk" of the GOP electorate to Haley, and Biden "faces a lack of Democratic enthusiasm on paper," though evidently "not in the primary."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Even with a third of delegates doled out Tuesday, "not enough states will have voted until later this month for Trump or Biden to formally become their parties' presumptive nominees," AP said.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
-
Trump’s Kennedy Center closure plan draws ireSpeed Read Trump said he will close the center for two years for ‘renovations’
-
Trump's ‘weaponization czar’ demoted at DOJSpeed Read Ed Martin lost his title as assistant attorney general
-
Gabbard faces questions on vote raid, secret complaintSpeed Read This comes as Trump has pushed Republicans to ‘take over’ voting
-
Greenland: The lasting damage of Trump’s tantrumFeature His desire for Greenland has seemingly faded away
-
The price of forgivenessFeature Trump’s unprecedented use of pardons has turned clemency into a big business.
-
Will Peter Mandelson and Andrew testify to US Congress?Today's Big Question Could political pressure overcome legal obstacles and force either man to give evidence over their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?
-
The ‘mad king’: has Trump finally lost it?Talking Point Rambling speeches, wind turbine obsession, and an ‘unhinged’ letter to Norway’s prime minister have caused concern whether the rest of his term is ‘sustainable’
-
A running list of everything Donald Trump’s administration, including the president, has said about his healthIn Depth Some in the White House have claimed Trump has near-superhuman abilities
