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A Republican strategist brought up two states that former President Donald Trump should watch on Super Tuesday, as he seeks to move closer to the Republican nominee in 2024.
Doug Heye, a GOP strategist and former communications director for the Republican National Committee (RNC), appeared on CNN's Newsroom with Wolf Blitzer and said that both Trump and President Joe Biden are "vulnerable" in the 2024 election.
"That's why this electorate is so nervous moving forward," Heye said. "Of all the states that are in there, North Carolina and Virginia are sort of the only two that are swing states. Watching those results, North Carolina is gonna come in pretty late by the way."
"Those are gonna be interesting for November," Heye added.
The context:
March 5 is Super Tuesday, where voters will cast their ballots in the Republican and Democratic primary races in 15 different states for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump and Biden remain the leading candidates for their respective parties and the former President has already garnered victories in several states such as South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire.
Trump currently has 273 delegates, leading South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley who currently has 43 delegates. Trump needs 1,215 delegates to receive the primary nomination, which would likely set up a rematch of the 2020 election against Biden.
What we know:
In 2020, Trump beat Biden in North Carolina by just under 2 percent (50.1 percent to 48.7 percent). However, Biden topped Trump in Virginia in 2020 by more than 10 percent (54.4 percent to 44.2 percent).
Polls show that Trump is currently leading Haley among Republicans and Biden has already received 206 delegates, compared to his sole challenger, Dean Philips, who has yet to win any delegates.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
Views:
Thomas Gift, the founding director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek earlier on Tuesday that he expects Trump to "trounce" Haley on Super Tuesday.
"He will trounce Haley, and politically, anyone looking to make light of his domination are just grasping at straws, desperate to point out electoral weaknesses in a candidate who's strutting his way to the Republican nomination," Gift told Newsweek.
Haley appeared on Fox News Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning and was asked about her plans to continue her campaign if she was to face defeats on Super Tuesday and if she would support Trump.
"I haven't heard him pledge to me that he would support me if I won, so I don't know why I have to go and pledge to him that I would support him," she said.
What's next:
Following Super Tuesday, voters will choose their preferred candidate to be named the nominee of their respective parties.
Many polls have suggested that voters will likely see a rematch between Biden and Trump but Haley will still be able to obtain some more delegates through different states.
Update, 3/5/24, 12:20 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more