Donald Trump’s win in Alaska’s GOP Presidential Preference Poll on Tuesday invigorated his supporters and infuriated his detractors.
Alaska Republicans had the most impressive result in the nation for Donald Trump on Tuesday, with 89% of those participating voting for him. That makes Alaska the top state for Trump among the 15 that participated in Super Tuesday.
Only Nevada, which held its Republican caucus on Feb. 19, has posted a higher percentage of support for Trump, at 99%. In the Nevada state-run primary, which does not count toward delegates, Nikki Haley had brought in 30% of the vote, while 63% voted for “none of these.” Trump was not on the official ballot in Nevada.
On Super Tuesday, Alabama followed Alaska with 83% voting for Trump in that state’s primary, where nearly 600,000 people took part. Oklahoma came in at 82%.
Kelly Tshibaka, Alaska director for the Trump campaign, gave credit to Alaskans for taking part in the democratic process:
“I want to express many thanks to those who came to vote and the many faithful volunteers that served at the polls. Republicans across the U.S. have shown overwhelming support for President Trump, and Alaska is no exception. I’m confident President Trump will continue to ride this wave of momentum to victory this November,” Tshibaka said.
Haley suspended her campaign on Wednesday morning in her home state of South Carolina but did not endorse Trump, an indication that she may work against a GOP victory in November.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him,” Haley said. “And I hope he does that. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away.”
President Joe Biden welcomed her supporters, saying, “Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign.”
On Tuesday night, Biden had a dark vision of the future under Trump: “Are we going to keep moving forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division, and darkness that defined his term in office? If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk. He is driven by grievance and grift.”
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who supports Trump, had Alaska’s future on his mind: ““Alaskans are smart — they saw how well Alaska was treated by the Trump administration, and they’ve seen how our state is being treated by the Biden administration. I commend everyone for taking part to help make a change for Alaska. Regardless of who your choice was on Super Tuesday, thank you for being part of history in our great state. And thank you to all the volunteers who were so helpful to everyone who came through the doors of the presidential preference poll.”
The Republican National Committee congratulated Trump: “Congratulations to President Trump – the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States!”
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader, endorsed Trump on Wednesday morning, saying, “It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that, as nominee, he will have my support.”
McConnell said he and Trump had worked well together, and “I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against the terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people.”
View our extensive coverage of Alaska’s Super Tuesday events at this link:
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, said Haley should support Trump as the presumptive nominee in this spicy interview, in which she told a BBC reporter to “f*** off” after the reporter called Trump supporters “conspiracy theorists” and asked her, “Why don’t you tell us about Jewish space lasers.” Watch here:
