Joe Biden secures landslide victory in South Carolina primary
Joe Biden’s campaign to reach the White House has been given a new lease of life after the Democrat secured a resounding victory in the South Carolina primary yesterday.
Biden, who served as vice president under Barack Obama, emerged victorious in the vote, where Democrats decide which candidate they want to run against President Donald Trump.
It marks the first presidential primary win ever for Biden, who is making his third bid for the White House.
Biden, who has positioned himself as a moderate alternative to left-winger Bernie Sanders, immediately took aim at his socialist rival.
“Democrats want a nominee who is a Democrat,” he told supporters in Columbia, South Carolina.
“Win big or lose, that’s the choice. Most Americans don’t want the promise of a revolution. They want more than promises they want results.”
Biden beat Sanders among a wide range of demographic and ideological groups, including those who said they were “very liberal”, according to exit polls by Edison Research.
Overall, Biden secured 49 per cent of the vote while Sanders won just 20 per cent, according to official state results. Billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer came third on 11 per cent, and ended his presidential campaign.
The South Carolina results came days ahead of so-called Super Tuesday, when primaires in 14 states will award one-third of the available national delegates.
Super Tuesday will also present the first major challenge from billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has splashed out half a billion dollars in advertising across the country.
The businessman and former New York mayor chose not to take part in the first four state primaries.
Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, who are also competing for the Democratic candidacy, trailed in South Carolina and now face a significant challenge to mount a comeback against the frontrunners.