WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched their parties' presidential nominations Tuesday with decisive victories in a slate of low-profile primaries, setting up a general election rematch that many voters do not want.
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 wins gave each man the delegate majority he needed to claim his party's nomination at the summertime national conventions.
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FILE - This combo image shows President Joe Biden, left, Jan. 5, 2024, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, right, Jan. 19, 2024. Biden and Trump hope to clinch their parties' presidential nominations with dominant victories in a slate of low-profile state primaries as the 2024 fight for the White House lurches into a new phase. (AP Photo, File)
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 that the fall election will feature a rematch between two flawed and unpopular presidents. At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history, while the 77-year-old Trump is facing decades in prison as a defendant in four criminal cases. 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.
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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."
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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Rome Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
He continued, "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."
Trump, in a video posted on social media, 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."
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President Joe Biden delivers remarks on lowering prices for American families during an event at the YMCA Allard Center, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Goffstown, N.H. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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 his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, among other alleged crimes. He's also facing increasingly pointed questions about his policy plans and relationships with some of the world's most dangerous dictators. Trump met privately on 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's 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's dealing with additional dissension within his party's progressive base, furious that he hasn't done more to stop Israel's war against Hamas 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.
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"I voted" stickers sit ready for voters to take after casting their ballot in the primary election at Precinct 205 at St. Jospeh Catholic Church in Gluckstadt, Miss., Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)
"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's no way she'd 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."
___
Associated Press writers Hallie Golden in Seattle, Jeff Amy in Loganville, Georgia, Fatima Hussein in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
___
Who’s running for president? See the latest rundown of major 2024 candidates
Donald Trump
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The former president announced his third campaign for the White House on Nov. 15, 2022, at his Mar-a-Lago resort, forcing the party to decide whether to embrace a candidate whose refusal to accept defeat in 2020 sparked the U.S. Capitol attack and still dominates his speeches.
The GOP front-runner remains hugely popular in the Republican Party, despite making history as the first president to be impeached twice and inciting the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Referring to himself as America's “most pro-life president," Trump nominated three conservative judges to the Supreme Court, paving the way for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide for nearly 50 years. Sweeping criminal justice reforms he signed into law in 2019 eased mandatory minimum sentences and gave judges more discretion in sentencing.
In March, Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged, facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a hush-money scheme. Since then, he has been charged with 57 more felonies in three other criminal cases, accused of mishandling and unlawfully retaining classified documents and trying to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election.
His overwhelming win in the lead-off Iowa caucuses signaled his dominant position in the race for the GOP nomination.
Joe Biden
![Joe Biden](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C888 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C984 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e8/ce843db1-799a-52a7-bd79-5df4f7e4f372/65bed984c688b.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1175 2008w)
President Joe Biden formally announced his reelection campaign on April 25 in a video, asking voters for time to “finish this job."
Biden, the oldest president in American history, would be 86 at the end of a second term, and his age has prompted some of his critics to question whether he can serve effectively. A notable number of Democratic voters indicated they would prefer he not run, though he is expected to easily win the Democratic nomination.
Biden, who has vowed to “restore the soul of America,” plans to run on his record. He spent his first two years as president combating the coronavirus pandemic and pushing through major bills such as the bipartisan infrastructure package and legislation to promote high-tech manufacturing and climate measures.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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The bestselling author and environmental lawyer announced on Oct. 9 that he was ending his Democratic presidential bid and instead launching an independent run.
A nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, he initially launched a long-shot bid to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination on April 19 in Boston. He said in announcing his party switch that he intended to be a spoiler candidate for both Biden and Trump.
Kennedy has emerged as one of the leading voices of the anti-vaccine movement, with public health experts and even members of his own family describing his work as misleading and dangerous. He has also been linked to far-right figures in recent years.
Jill Stein
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The environmental activist, whose 2016 third-party presidential bid was blamed by Democrats for helping Trump win the White House, says she is making another run for the nation's highest office.
Jill Stein announced Nov. 9 that she will again run under the Green Party banner. "I'm running for president to offer that choice for the people outside of the failed two-party system,” she said.
She ran against Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 as a Green Party candidate and received about 1% of the vote. Some Democrats said her candidacy siphoned votes away from Clinton, particularly in swing states like Wisconsin.
Cornel West
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The progressive activist and scholar announced Oct. 5 that he was ending his bid for the presidency under the Green Party banner and was instead running as an independent.
West wrote on X that he was running as an independent to “end the iron grip of the ruling class and ensure true democracy!” He added, "We need to break the grip of the duopoly and give power to the people.”
He initially announced in June that he would be running as a member of The People’s Party before soon switching to the Green Party.
Who’s dropped out?
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Republicans:
- Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
- Former Vice President Mike Pence
- Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
- Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
- Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson
- North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum
- Radio show host Larry Elder
- Businessman Perry Johnson
- Former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of Texas
- Miami Mayor Francis Suarez
Democrats:
- U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota
- Self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson