Trump moves closer to a duel with Biden after sweeping the "Super Tuesday" vote
"It's been an incredible night and day," summed up Donald Trump, who is virtually guaranteed a duel with Democrat Joe Biden in the November presidential election after sweeping the so-called "Super Tuesday".
The former Republican president was declared the winner in 12 of the 15 states in dispute. These are Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Maine, Alabama, Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Colorado, Minnesota, Texas and California, the last two of which are the most populous in the country, according to US media projections.
Even so, Nikki Haley, the last one standing in his way for the party's presidential nomination, has deprived him of an outright victory by winning Vermont. On the other hand, the results in Utah and Alaska were also expected.
It was a "Super Tuesday" without mystery. Neither the Republican, 77, nor the Democrat, 81, have anyone to overshadow them in the primaries, during which both parties' candidates for the elections are nominated.
"Thank you - MAGA!"
The big winner of the night was Trump, who was ecstatic.
"It's been an unbelievable, incredible night and day. It's been an incredible period in the history of our country," he told supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida.
"Thank you - MAGA!" he wrote earlier on his Truth Social platform, using the acronym for the Trumpist slogan "Make America Great Again".
His profile is atypical.
The House of Representatives, when it had a Democratic majority, accused him of inciting insurrection. He was acquitted by the Senate, but faces 91 felony charges.
This does not prevent him from being appreciated by working-class, white and rural voters.
Since 15 January and despite his legal problems, Trump has won almost every primary.
Democrats are taking note and sounding the alarm.
Trump "is determined to destroy our democracy" and "will do or say anything to achieve power", Biden said in a statement released by his campaign team.
In another he appealed for funds because "Trump is sweeping the primaries". "It will be us against the entire Trumpist right in this election (...). I need your help," the Democrat says.
For weeks now, Biden has been writing off Haley's battle.
The 52-year-old former ambassador to the UN embodies the moderate wing of the Republican Party and promises to restore "normality" in the face of "Trump's chaos", but she has accumulated defeats. The question is whether she will stay in the race.
She has not clarified. In a statement her campaign team stressed that "there remains a large bloc of Republican primary voters who express deep concerns about Donald Trump".
At Trump's mansion, no one was in any doubt.
Under towering chandeliers and gilded mouldings, guests oozed optimism.
"I don't think the other Republican candidate has a chance. She should resign," said April Culbreath, leader of a local branch of the party.
In theory the primaries could drag on until July. But Trump's team predicts a victory "by March 19" at the latest, after Georgia and Florida vote.
The billionaire wants to focus on a rematch with Joe Biden before he has to focus on his legal problems.
His first criminal trial begins on 25 March in New York.
On the Democratic side, Biden can rest easy. He has no strong rivals.
The candidacies of two Democrats, Congressman Dean Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson, have never aroused enthusiasm despite recurring voter criticism of the president's age or his support for Israel.
As expected on Tuesday he won every state but one territory: American Samoa, a Pacific archipelago where he was defeated by a virtually unknown businessman.
Thursday will be the president's next big night: he will defend his vision for America during a speech to Congress, the traditional "State of the Union".
