Biden quickly wins South Carolina Democratic presidential primary

South Carolina is once again giving President Biden victory at the ballot box.

The Associated Press projected Saturday that the president would win South Carolina's 2024 Democratic presidential primary, with the news service calling 23 minutes after polls closed at 7 p.m. in the Palmetto State. ET.

The quick projection was no surprise, as Biden was expected to defeat his two long-shot Democratic primary challengers, Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota and best-selling author and spiritual advisor Marianne Williamson, for the second consecutive time. Entering the White House.

"In 2020, it was South Carolina voters who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign and set us on a path to winning the presidency," Biden said in a statement shortly after the race was announced. 

"Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have put us on a path to winning the presidency again and making Donald Trump the loser again," he said. "

South Carolina, where black voters play a large role in the state's Democratic politics, led the party's official presidential nominating calendar for the first time.

And Biden deserves a lot of credit, because he planned to reverse the Democratic National Committee's long-running nominating calendar to put the Palmetto State in the first place.

Biden said, "If you ever doubt that the power to change America is in your hands, remember this. You've proven it. You're the reason I'm president. That's right. You're the reason That Kamala Harris is a historic Vice President." He emphasized this point while speaking at a major South Carolina Democratic Party gathering last weekend.

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Four years ago, the then-former vice president was in an upset after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses and fifth in the New Hampshire primary.

Biden finished second in the Nevada caucuses behind Senator Bernie Sanders, followed by a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary. Biden's dismantling of the rest of the field of Democratic rivals — boosted in large part by the endorsement of longtime Democratic Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina — propelled Biden toward the party's nomination and ultimately the White House.

National Democrats spent years knocking off both Iowa and New Hampshire – leading both national parties' nominating calendars by half a century – as unrepresentative of the party overall because the states were largely populated with few major urban areas. The population is Caucasian. Nevada and South Carolina, which ranked third and fourth on the calendar in recent cycles, are far more diverse than Iowa or New Hampshire.

While Republicans made no major changes to their 2024 schedule, the DNC overwhelmingly approved the calendar proposed by Biden last year to put South Carolina in the lead. The president and supporters of the new calendar argued it would empower minority voters, whom Democrats have long relied on but have too often taken for granted.

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Many political analysts also saw the move as a thank you from Biden to Clyburn and South Carolina for the role they played in his 2020 election.

Highlighting the significance of the first spot on the calendar, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Christel Spain told Fox News, "It's a huge deal."

While Iowa ultimately complied with the DNC, New Hampshire followed a half-century-old state law that mandates holding their presidential primary first.

New Hampshire held its primary for both parties on January 23, and the Democratic contest was disallowed by the DNC, with no delegates at stake.

Biden did not apply to place his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot and did not campaign in the state. But he still won more than 60% of the vote in the contest, thanks to a well-funded write-in effort by top Granite State Democrats.

As ballots continued to be tabulated in South Carolina on Saturday evening, Biden took a massive lead over his challengers, taking more than 95% of the vote.

Asked by Fox News' James Levinson whether it was time for Phillips and Williamson to suspend their campaigns, DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said, "Campaigns have to make their own decisions. I don't tell anyone that." When should they be out?"

But to clarify, he said, "It looks like Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic Party candidate."

Biden was on the ballot in the Palmetto State, and South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Kristel Spain, pointing to the president's dominance in a state where she has longstanding ties, told Fox News on Friday that "this primary The election has been contested, but not that competitive."

On the eve of the primary, Vice President Harris highlighted the importance of the state's new leading position.

"South Carolina, you are the first person in the nation's primary and President Biden and I are counting on you," Harris said at a campaign event at South Carolina State University.

“Are you ready to make your voice heard?” the vice president asked the crowd gathered at the historically Black university on Friday.

Biden called in the South Carolina Democratic Party's celebration after the race was announced.

“What happened,” he joked, before asking, “what kind of turnout you had.”

"Thank you, everybody. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. And you're not getting rid of me. I'm coming back," he said to applause.

The president has the DNC's support as he seeks a second term in the White House, and Harrison, in his home state of Columbia, South Carolina, told Fox News Digital on Saturday morning that the primary was part of Biden's mission to rally the Democratic Party. He won support from black voters, a key constituency of the U.S. that had boosted him four years earlier.

"This President wanted to send a signal to Black people, not only in South Carolina, but across the country, that we see you, we hear you and you matter. That's why it's important for the President and the Vice President and The first lady and the second gentleman have to come to a state and show up even when they know they're going to win. And they're going to win decisively,'' Harrison said.