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A former Republican leader in Michigan claimed Tuesday night's GOP primary shows that "chlamydia" is more popular than Donald Trump with some voters in the state.
The Context
Trump cruised to yet another GOP primary victory on Tuesday, winning in Michigan by more than 40 points ahead of Nikki Haley (68.1 to 26.5 percent), his only serious challenger left in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to Associated Press projections.
Haley receiving more than a quarter of the votes in a primary race she was all but certain to lose had led to suggestions that Trump doesn't have enough support in a general election to win the key swing state, which President Joe Biden won by three points in 2020.
What We Know
Speaking to Meidas Touch Network, Jeff Timmer, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, suggested that the "big story" coming of the state's GOP primary is that Trump didn't get support from key demographics and that the former president will "never" get these votes.
"The big story is it's not just that Donald Trump continues to lose either three or four out of every 10 Republican votes, it's that those voters are never, ever, ever coming back to Donald Trump," Timmer said.
"Chlamydia is more popular than Donald Trump among college-educated white voters, especially white women, and even non-college, white, mainstream Protestant women.
"The fact that Donald Trump will never get their votes, that's the big story out of Michigan tonight. The way it should be covered Donald Trump's results are much weaker than they appear to be. And Joe Biden's results are stronger than expected."
Trump's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Biden also easily won Michigan's Democratic primary on Tuesday, despite strong support for people voting for "uncommitted" in protest at the president's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
More than 81 percent of Democratic voters in Michigan, which has the largest U.S.-Arab population in the country, backed Biden for the party's presidential nominee, with "uncommitted" getting more than 100,000 votes (13.3 percent) on the ballots.
Views
Donald Trump said following Tuesday night's victory in Michigan: "The numbers are far greater than we even anticipated. Thank you very much, and we'll be doing a lot of campaigning over the next few months.
"I can tell you this, November 5th cannot come fast enough because our country is in serious trouble. We have the worst president in the history of our country, the most incompetent and the most corrupt president, and we can't let this continue.
"So the date November 5, January 20, when we take over, could not come fast enough because we're going to Make America Great Again, greater than ever before."
What Next?
The Michigan Republican Party is holding a nominating convention on March 2, where a majority of the state's delegates will be awarded.
The same day, the Republican Idaho caucus will take place, where polls suggest Trump is once again the overwhelming favorite to win.
Haley has vowed to remain in the Republican primary contest despite now losing five races in a row, including in her home state of South Carolina. She previously insisted she is looking ahead to Super Tuesday on March 5, where more than a dozen states will be voting in the primaries.
"We've only seen a handful of states vote," Haley told CNN on Tuesday night. "I've said this before, as much as the media wants to jump ahead, we're taking this one state, one day at a time."
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more