Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden attends a rally in Philadelphia on May 18, 2019. Joe Biden on Saturday kicked off his running campaign for the 2020 presidential election in Philadelphia. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
"We need you, we want you, there's a place for you in this campaign," Biden said. "If Democrats nominate me, I believe we can beat Donald Trump."
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden declared victory in the party's primary in the state of South Carolina on Saturday, as incoming results consistently indicated his overwhelming lead.
With 93 percent of the precincts having reported results, Biden, the former vice president, gained 49 percent of the votes as of press time, trailed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, with 19.8 percent.
"This campaign is taking off," Biden told a cheering crowd as he declared victory.
Having finished previous nominating contests in three states disappointingly, Biden is counting on a projected win in South Carolina, where he has an appeal especially for African American voters, to shore up momentum.
"We need you, we want you, there's a place for you in this campaign," Biden said. "If Democrats nominate me, I believe we can beat Donald Trump."
Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the United States, Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua)
After winning 28 delegates in South Carolina as of press time, Biden's delegate total now amounts to 43, second only to Sanders' 52 among all Democrats remaining in the race. The delegate votes in caucuses and primaries resemble the electoral college in the general election.
Sanders, who lost by a slight margin to former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg in the Iowa caucuses but won the back-to-back races in New Hampshire and Nevada, conceded defeat in South Carolina, stressing no one will win all the states while congratulating Biden on his victory.
"We did not win in South Carolina. That will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country and nobody can win them all," Sanders said.
"I want to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory tonight," he added. "And now we're on to Super Tuesday in Virginia."
Billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, Buttigieg, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren ranked third through fifth, respectively, current results showed.
Steyer later announced his exit from the presidential race. "I said if I didn't see a path to winning that I'd suspend my campaign," he said. "And honestly, I can't see a path where I can win the presidency."
While congratulating Biden on his victory, Warren said in Houston, Texas, "I'll be the first to say that the first four contests haven't gone exactly as I'd hoped."
Immediately following the South Carolina primary is "Super Tuesday" next week, when 14 states and the U.S. territory of American Samoa, plus Democrats abroad, will cast their ballots.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has campaigned using his own money and who skipped the four contests as of now, will participate in the Super Tuesday races.
"Mike is the only candidate to campaign in all 14 Super Tuesday states over the last two months and we look forward to Tuesday," Bloomberg's campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement.
"Mike's record of successfully leading and managing through crises and challenges is exactly what Americans are looking for in a new president," he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
President Donald Trump, who has constantly engaged in a tug of war ever since Bloomberg announced his bid for the presidency in November 2019, took to Twitter, predicting that Biden's victory in South Carolina heralds doom for Bloomberg, who, like Biden, is a moderate.
"Sleepy Joe Biden's victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg's Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!" read a tweet from the president. ■
