How Trump defeated Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina

DONALD Trump’s big primary victory on Saturday over Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina was the result of a ruthless and methodical campaign to eliminate her as a threat, according to aides and people close to both campaigns.

Despite having already secured a string of primary victories, it was crucial for Trump to win South Carolina, a key early Republican primary state that often predicts the party’s nominee. Unlike in 2016, Trump was facing a rival who had won two terms as governor of the state and is still locally popular.

The plan was to isolate Haley politically by locking down endorsements from scores of officials in the state as quickly as possible to demonstrate publicly that she had no path to the presidency through South Carolina, aides with knowledge of the Trump campaign plan said.

Trump’s victory on Saturday was not a complete blowout but he still defeated her by a comfortable 20 percentage points on her home turf.

“We were facing a two-term governor. That necessitated a show of force. We needed endorsements to stop donors and voters taking a look at Nikki,” a senior Trump campaign adviser told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Chris LaCivita, a co-manager of Trump’s campaign, said the series of big-name endorsements played a critical role in snuffing out the competition in the state.

LaCivita said another crucial part of Trump’s success was to harvest data on the thousands of voters who attended the former president’s rallies.

“What happens in the state after we’re on the air plane. That’s where the real work begins,” LaCivita said.

Working out of a nondescript office park in North Charleston, campaign staff have been toiling for months to use voter data to communicate regularly with potential voters. Trump used a similar game plan to win in Iowa and New Hampshire.

ENDORSEMENT WINDFALL

As recently as December, Haley was still saying publicly that South Carolina was where she would finally score a win over Trump and turn the nominating contest around. Instead, it may be remembered as the state where her campaign suffered its fatal blow.

By Jan. 24 – a month before the primary – Trump had secured the endorsements of 158 current and