Despite resounding victories on Super Tuesday, there are indications that Donald Trump is still struggling to get strong, united Republican support, which he may need in the presidential election.
Trump is all but certain to clinch the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination, setting up a rematch with President Joe Biden in November, after dominating the busiest day of the primary calendar with easy victories in more than a dozen states on March 5.
However, Nikki Haley, Trump's main remaining rival in the Republican primary, received more than 2 million votes across the country Tuesday and pulled off a surprise victory in Vermont, the solidly blue state where Biden beat Trump by 35 points in 2020.
Haley was also able to achieve between 20 and 40 percent of the votes in several states—including Massachusetts (37 percent), Colorado (34 percent), Minnesota (29 percent) and North Carolina (23 percent).
Donald Trump further showed his domination in the 2024 GOP primary on Super Tuesday, but he still lost significant support to Nikki Haley. Donald Trump further showed his domination in the 2024 GOP primary on Super Tuesday, but he still lost significant support to Nikki Haley. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Elsewhere, an exit poll conducted by NBC News Tuesday night found that about one-third of Republican voters in North Carolina (35 percent), Virginia (36 percent) and California (33 percent) said they could not guarantee they would support the GOP presidential candidate in November.
Trump has been the overwhelming favorite to win the 2024 GOP nomination throughout the primary season—with Super Tuesday's results further cementing this. However, the former president is still losing a significant number of votes to a more moderate Republican candidate, and there is no guarantee voters will support him in the general election, which could be a warning sign for the 77-year-old.
Speaking to CNN about the Super Tuesday results, columnist and political commentator Molly Jong-Fast said: "There is a real 'Never Trump' contingent, and remember, Trump is a primary candidate. He has only ever tried to appeal to Republican primary voters, and he cannot marshal that group together the way he needs to.
"Part of his trick in 2016 was, he got these low-frequency voters out, these people who almost never voted, which is why the polling was so off, and you're just not seeing that same type of enthusiasm."
Olivia Perez-Cubas, a campaign spokesperson for Haley, said in a statement that the results across the country Tuesday shows there is a "large block" of Republican primary voters who are "expressing deep concerns" about the potential of Trump returning to the White House.
"That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters' concerns will make the Republican Party and America better," she said.
Newsweek has contacted Trump's office for comment via email.
In a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said his clear lead in the GOP primary turned what is usually the most eagerly anticipated day of the presidential nomination season into a foregone conclusion.
"They call it Super Tuesday for a reason. This is a big one," he said. "And they tell me, the pundits and otherwise, that there's never been one like this. There's never been anything so conclusive. This was an amazing, amazing night."
Trump added: "We're going to win this election because we have no choice. If we lose the election, we're not going to have a country."