(Washington) Donald Trump wants to be inducted on Tuesday as the undisputed champion of the Republicans during the big day of “Super Tuesday”, while the first polling stations open the ball for this essential event in American politics.
The former president, who intends to definitively bury his rival Nikki Haley on this election day during which 15 states are simultaneously organizing their presidential primaries, already has his new duel against Joe Biden in his sights.
From Maine to California, from Texas to Virginia, from Alaska to Alabama, millions of Americans are called to the polls to choose their Democratic and Republican candidates for the November election.
The first polling stations opened at 6 a.m.
But this big election day, which is traditionally the subject of great media attention, has a slightly different flavor this year, as it seems devoid of any suspense.
On the Republican side, only two candidates are still in the running and Donald Trump is by far the favorite.
Deaf ears
Despite his legal troubles, the 77-year-old former president has won almost every primary organized by his party since January and, in doing so, ousted much of the competition.
Nikki Haley, 52, is the only one still standing in her way.
PHOTO SHELBY TAUBER, REUTERS
Nikki Haley
The former governor of South Carolina, who embodies a more traditional wing of the Republican Party, promises to restore “normalcy” in the face of “Trump’s chaos.”
She regularly attacks her rival on his age, demanding that he take an intellectual aptitude test.
Republican voters are turning a deaf ear.
According to the polls, Donald Trump is expected to sweep each of the next states in play, relying, as always, on an extremely solid loyal base.
His advisor Jason Miller assured AFP that he expected “victories, lots of victories” on Tuesday evening.
Will Haley hang on?
Apart from a symbolic victory on Sunday evening in the capital Washington, Nikki Haley has had a series of bitter defeats, including in the state of which she was governor.
The former UN ambassador, however, continued to hold on, ensuring that throwing in the towel would be “the easy way out”.
Will she stay in the race if the bad news continues to fall?
Pressed on the question, the main interested party remains vague.
“We’re going to continue through Super Tuesday,” she told reporters in late February. “That’s as far as I’ve thought about strategy. »
Donald Trump, who continues to give his rival unflattering nicknames – “bird brain” is his favorite – insists that Nikki Haley “is going to lose each of the states” at stake on Tuesday.
Biden facing the Americans on Thursday
The primaries can in theory stretch until July. But Donald Trump’s team is planning a victory “on March 19” at the latest, after votes notably in Georgia and Florida.
The billionaire wants to be able to focus on his rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden as soon as possible – before getting sucked into his legal troubles.
PHOTO EVAN VUCCI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Biden
His first criminal trial begins March 25 in New York.
Donald Trump claims to be “much more popular” since he was indicted, but a number of polls show that support for his candidacy would crumble considerably if he were convicted in one of his criminal cases.
He claims to be innocent and the victim of a “witch hunt”.
On the Democratic side, Joe Biden, 81, is a candidate for re-election and faces no serious opposition.
The candidacies of two Democrats launched in pursuit of him, the elected representative of Minnesota Dean Phillips and the best-selling author Marianne Williamson, have never really aroused enthusiasm, despite the recurring criticisms expressed by voters on the age of the president , or its support for Israel.
Tuesday’s elections are at most a formality for Joe Biden.
The leader will, however, defend his record and unfold his vision for America during a major general policy speech to Congress, the traditional “State of the Union”, on Thursday.
Struggling in the polls, the outgoing president “must use this last opportunity to address millions of Americans to present the contrast between his vision and what life will be like under Donald Trump,” says political scientist Wendy Schiller.