Biden wins 1st Democratic primary in South Carolina

▲ U.S. President Joe Biden attends the opening of his campaign office in Wilmington, Delaware, on Feb. 3, 2024, in this photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)

Biden-South Carolina win

Biden wins 1st Democratic primary in South Carolina

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- President Joe Biden swept to victory in the Democratic Party's first official presidential nomination contest in South Carolina on Saturday, the Associated Press and CNN projected, as political attention has shifted to his likely rematch with former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 general election.

Biden bested Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and renowned author Marianne Williamson in the South Carolina primary, a win that highlighted his status as the overwhelming favorite despite lingering questions about his age and relatively low approval ratings.

For Biden, the opening primary in the state was a key test of support from black voters, a crucial demographic that helped him reinvigorate his then underwhelming campaign and clinch the Democratic nomination four years ago.

Despite the Democratic Party's choice of South Carolina as the lead-off state, New Hampshire went ahead with an unsanctioned contest last month, with Biden absent from the ballot. But the president won the primary as a "write-in" candidate though no delegates were assigned from the state.

Earlier in the day, Biden visited a campaign office in Wilmington, Delaware, where he called his campaign "more of a mission," apparently in connection with his framing of Trump as a danger to democracy.

"The guy we're running against, he's not for anything. He's against everything," Biden was quoted as saying in a pool report.

"There's a lot at stake here, folks. We have an enormous obligation. ... This is not just a campaign. This is more of a mission. We cannot lose this campaign for the good of the country," he added.

South Carolina is the first state awarding delegates. Up for grabs were 55 pledged delegates out of 1,968 delegates required to win the party's ticket to become its standard-bearer.

In the Republican race, Trump maintains a comfortable lead over his main rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, after scoring two consecutive wins in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

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