Donald Trump declares victory in South Carolina: 'It's tough, it's nasty, it's mean, it's vicious. It's beautiful.'

Donald Trump gives his victory speech after his win in the South Carolina Republican primary

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

published 21 February 2016

Donald Trump claimed his second straight big victory in the 2016 Republican presidential race Saturday night, this time in the South Carolina primary. "I think we're going to do very, very well," Trump said in his victory speech, following brief remarks from wife Melania Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump. "As people drop out, I'm going to get a lot of those votes."

Trump garnered a few boos from the audience when he gave a brief nod to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who finished behind him in a close race for second. "Running for president, there's nothing easy about it," Trump said, vowing that tomorrow he'd be back to war. "It's tough, it's nasty, it's mean, it's vicious. It's beautiful. When you win it's beautiful."

Trump is now looking ahead to Republican caucuses in Nevada, where he says he has the support of "thousands and thousands of Hispanics." The real estate mogul has now won in New Hampshire and South Carolina and finished second in Iowa behind Cruz.