Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about the results of the Michigan, Mississippi and other primary elections during a news conference held at his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, March 8, 2016.
(Photo: Joe Skipper/Reuters)JUPITER, Fla.–Donald Trump advanced his lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, winning Mississippi and Michigan — the first of two states up for grabs Tuesday in the increasingly bitter GOP primary contest. Republicans in Idaho and Hawaii were also voting, but those results were not expected for several hours.
Unlike last week’s Super Tuesday contests, just 150 delegates were up for grabs Tuesday—and all were awarded proportionally, suggesting the results would not dramatically alter the current standing of the GOP race, where Trump enjoys a healthy lead over Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich.
But for Trump, Tuesday’s wins were a significant psychological victory for his insurgent campaign, affirming that he retains his momentum even after days of withering attacks from rivals and members of a Republican establishment newly determined to derail his bid for the party’s nomination.
“I don’t think I have ever had so many horrible things said about me in one week,” Trump said at an election night press conference here.
“$38 million of horrible lies,” he added, referring to an onslaught of negative ads from his rivals and super PACs. “It shows you how brilliant the public is, because they knew they were lies.”
In Mississippi, Trump was projected to win by double-digits, in spite of a last-minute endorsement of Ted Cruz by Phil Bryant, the state’s governor. Exit polls showed that Trump not only won with the support of early voters, but also Republicans who waited until the last minute to select their candidate.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign rally at Central Baptist Church in Kannapolis, N.C., Tuesday, March 8, 2016. (Photo: Gerry Broome/AP)
And in Michigan, Trump easily triumphed in a win fueled by working-class voters angry at the federal government and politicians in Washington. According to exit polls, more than half of Michigan Republicans said they wanted the next president to be “someone outside the political establishment.”
But Trump’s victories Tuesday also came at a time when election results and polling — both nationally and in states holding primaries and caucuses — suggest he is losing at least some altitude in the race. Last Saturday, Cruz claimed victories in Kansas and Maine—states where Trump had been favored—and in recent days, the Texas senator has pulled closer in many polls, giving party members pouring millions of dollars into super PAC ads attacking Trump hope their attacks are slowly working.
But it’s still unclear if Cruz’s rise has been fueled by the consolidation of anti-Trump sentiment or the real estate mogul’s missteps on the campaign trail, including his off-color commentary at last week’s GOP debate, which did not sit well with some voters.
During that debate, Trump boasted about the size of his genitals, refused to disclose whether he’s waffled in private about opposing illegal immigration, and showed no ability to answer detailed questions from Fox News’ Chris Wallace about how to reduce the budget deficit. The overall acrimony of the night led one pundit to call it “a low-point not just in the history of American democracy, but democracy itself.”
But in many ways, Trump appears to be surviving—if not thriving from—attacks from fellow Republicans determined to derail his campaign. Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee, has repeatedly denounced Trump as a “phony” and called on Republican voters to oppose him.
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