Donald Trump wants to visit SC ahead of Feb. 29 Democratic presidential primary
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he plans to return to South Carolina ahead of the state’s “First in the South” Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 29.
“I’ll be going to South Carolina — they’re working that out now — probably the day before,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday afternoon before he boarded Air Force One with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, according to an official White House transcript. “But, you know, look, we have a big voice and we might as well use.”
As of late Tuesday, the White House had not indicated if Trump would indeed visit South Carolina the Friday before the state’s Saturday primary or where in the Palmetto State he might go.
Joe Jackson, Republican National Committee spokesman, could not confirm details of the president’s trip, but said that “we are always excited to welcome the president back to the Palmetto State.”
“South Carolina went big for President Trump in 2016, and with record-breaking results will do so again in 2020,” Jackson said.
Returning to South Carolina ahead of the state’s competitive primary would not be unusual for the president, who has been able to generate headlines and pull media attention away from the Democratic presidential contenders by holding rallies and other large scale events in early-voting states.
Trump also plans to hold a rally in Charlotte on March 2 rally before North Carolina’s Super Tuesday election.
Unlike in New Hampshire, Trump faces no primary opponent in South Carolina.
He won South Carolina by a landslide in 2016 — 55% of the vote to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s 41%.
Last fall, the South Carolina Republican Party’s executive committee voted to nix holding a presidential preference primary this month.
“As a general rule, when either party has an incumbent president in the White House, there’s no rationale to hold a primary,” S.C. GOP chairman Drew McKissick said in a statement after the September vote. “With no legitimate primary challenger and President Trump’s record of results, the decision was made to save South Carolina taxpayers over $1.2 million and forgo an unnecessary primary.”
Trump’s visit back to the state — his first since speaking at historically black university Benedict College — follows a trip by Vice President Mike Pence last week that kicked off with a Trump Victory campaign lunch at Nephron Pharmaceuticals, then a trip to Charleston’s military college The Citadel to give a speech and receive the Nathan Hale Patriot Award.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
