CNN
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Donald Trump received Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses Thursday, CNN projects, a victory that was successfully assured when his lone remaining well-known rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, selected to not compete for the state’s delegates.
The previous president has now received all three Republican contests thus far — including the Silver State to Iowa and New Hampshire — as he strikes nearer to the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination.
Thursday’s caucuses in Nevada got here two days after the state held primaries — with President Joe Biden dominating the Democratic contest and “none of those candidates” ending first for Republicans, forward of Haley.
The Nevada Republican Get together, which is led by Trump allies, opted not to award its delegates via a party-run major — and barred candidates collaborating within the major from caucus ballots. That meant Trump confronted solely little-known Dallas pastor Ryan Binkley on Thursday.
Forward of his victory, Trump traveled to Las Vegas for a caucus-night watch occasion, the place he joked about his political fortunes on the day that Supreme Courtroom justices expressed skepticism over Colorado’s determination to take away him from the 2024 major poll and a particular counsel issued a scathing report on Biden’s handling of classified documents.
“Is there any method we will name the election for subsequent Tuesday? That’s all I need,” he mentioned.
Trump dined with Miriam Adelson, widow to the late on line casino magnate and billionaire Sheldon Adelson, within the metropolis earlier than attending the watch occasion, Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita informed reporters. LaCivita and Trump adviser Susie Wiles additionally attended the dinner, he mentioned.
Adelson, who has but to endorse a candidate for 2024, met individually with Trump and Haley in November on the sidelines of the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering. Adelson has recognized Haley for years and has beforehand contributed to causes on her behalf. Adelson’s late husband, in the meantime, was the biggest donor to Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign.
Later, in his victory speech, Trump mocked Haley for her efficiency in Tuesday’s major. Essentially the most votes went to “none of those candidates,” an possibility on Nevada ballots meant to permit voters to specific displeasure at their choices.
“I’d wish to congratulate ‘not one of the above,’” Trump mentioned.
Nevada Republicans aren’t the one ones caucusing Thursday. Trump will win the Republican caucuses within the US Virgin Islands, defeating Haley for the territory’s 4 delegates, CNN tasks.
Haley confronted an embarrassing consequence Tuesday in Nevada when she completed second to “none of those candidates” within the nonbinding major — an consequence that seemingly mirrored many GOP voters’ desire for Trump in a state that offers them the choice to specific their dissatisfaction with all candidates on the poll.
Whereas no delegates had been on the road, the first represented a setback for Haley as she seeks to prove to Republican donors and voters that she stays a viable contender forward of her subsequent main head-to-head contest with Trump within the February 24 South Carolina major.
“We at all times knew Nevada was a rip-off,” Haley mentioned in a Fox Enterprise interview Wednesday. “Trump had it rigged from the very starting. … We didn’t spend a day or a greenback there. We weren’t even frightened about it.”
Trump, in the meantime, had urged his supporters within the Silver State to skip the first and vote within the caucuses.
“In your state, you will have each a major and you’ve got a caucus. Don’t fear in regards to the major, simply do the caucus factor,” he informed attendees at a latest Las Vegas rally.
The dueling contests are the results of a 2021 state regulation that scrapped Nevada’s presidential caucuses in favor of government-run primaries. Advocates mentioned the transfer could be much less cumbersome to run and fewer complicated for voters.
Nonetheless, the Nevada Republican Get together — which is led by Trump loyalists — opted to carry caucuses this 12 months anyway and award the state’s delegates to the Republican Nationwide Conference based mostly on these outcomes. It additionally warned candidates who participated within the major that they’d not be eligible for the caucuses or to obtain any delegates.
Nonetheless, some Republican presidential contenders, together with Haley, filed to run within the major. Trump is now the final remaining main contender in Thursday’s caucuses, which successfully ensures his victory. (He faces solely token opposition on Thursday’s poll from little-known Texas pastor Ryan Binkley.)
Democrats awarded their 2024 presidential delegates from Nevada based mostly on the outcomes of Tuesday’s first-in-the-West major, which President Joe Biden received in dominating trend — including to his win in South Carolina as he strikes towards securing his occasion’s nomination for a second time period.
The dearth of aggressive primaries in Nevada means main presidential contenders paid little consideration to the Silver State. That’s prone to change within the fall, when Nevada —a state Biden narrowly won in 2020 however the place Republicans flipped the governor’s office in 2022 — can be a presidential and Senate battleground.
This story has been up to date with further reporting.
CNN’s David Wright, Ethan Cohen, Terence Burlij and Alayna Treene contributed to this report.