Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden clinched their parties' presidential nominations Tuesday with decisive victories in a slate of low-profile primaries, setting up a general election rematch.
The outcome of contests across Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington state was never in doubt. Neither Biden, a Democrat, nor Trump, a Republican, faced major opposition. But the magnitude of their victories gave each man the delegate majority he needed to claim his party's nomination at the summertime national conventions.
Trump, in a video posted to Rumble, celebrated what he called "a great day of victory."
"But now we have to get back to work because we have the worst president in the history of our country," Trump said of Biden. "So, we're not going to take time to celebrate. We'll celebrate in eight months when the election is over."
He also posted a message to Truth Social.
"It is my great honor to be representing the Republican Party as its presidential nominee," Trump wrote just before midnight. "Our party is united and strong, and fully understands that we are running against the worst, most incompetent, corrupt, and destructive president in the history of the United States.
"Millions of people are invading our Country, many from prisons and mental institutions of other countries. High interest rates and inflation are choking our great middle class, and all our economy is bad, and our stock market is rising only because polls are strongly indicating that we will win the presidential election of 2024.
"We are now, under Crooked Joe Biden, a third-world nation, which uses the Injustice System to go after his political opponent, ME!
"But fear not, we will not fail, we will take back our once great country, put AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN – GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE.
"November 5th will go down as the most important day in the history of our Country! GOD BLESS AMERICA."
Not even halfway through the presidential primary calendar, Tuesday marked a crystalizing moment for a nation uneasy with its choices in 2024.
There is no longer any doubt the fall election will feature a rematch of the 2020 election that featured the most votes for a sitting president in history, and the most votes for any candidate in history.
At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history. Their rematch — the first featuring two U.S. presidents since 1912 — will almost certainly deepen the nation's searing political and cultural divides over the eight-month grind that lies ahead.
Biden entered the White House promising to be the unifying president. It never materialized, and Trump argues division has only gotten worse.
In a statement, Biden celebrated the nomination while casting Trump as a serious threat to democracy.
Trump, Biden said, "is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America."
"I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party — and our country — in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever."
Both candidates dominated Tuesday's primaries in swing-state Georgia, deep-red Mississippi and Democratic-leaning Washington. Trump also won Hawaii's Republican caucus.
Despite their tough talk, the road ahead will not be easy for either presumptive nominee.
Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases involving his handling of classified documents and the 2020 election challenge, among other alleged crimes. He's also facing increasingly pointed questions about his policy plans and ability to negotiate with some of the world's most dangerous dictators. Trump met privately Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has rolled back democracy in his country.
Biden, who would be 86 years old at the end of his next term, is working to assure a skeptical electorate that he is still physically and mentally able to thrive in the world's most important job. Voters in both parties are unhappy with his handling of immigration and inflation.
And he is dealing with additional dissension within his party's progressive base, furious that he has not done more to stop Israel's war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Activists and religious leaders in Washington encouraged Democrats to vote "uncommitted" to signal their outrage.
In Seattle, 26-year-old voter Bella Rivera said they hoped their "uncommitted" vote would would serve as a wakeup call for the Democratic party.
"If you really want our votes, if you want to win this election, you're going to have to show a little bit more either support of Palestinian liberation — that's something that's very important to us — and ceasing funds to Israel," said Rivera, a preschool teacher who uses they/them pronouns.
Almost 3,000 miles away in Georgia, retiree Donna Graham said she would have preferred another Republican nominee over Trump, but she said there is no way she would ever vote for Biden in the general election.
"He wasn't my first choice, but he's the next best thing," Graham said of Trump. "It's sad that it's the same old matchup as four years ago."
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