Donald Trump Responds to Boos at South Carolina-Clemson Game

Donald Trump has responded following reports he was booed at a South Carolina football game this weekend.

The former president and front-runner in the Republican primaries was met with both boos and cheers as he arrived at Williams-Brice Stadium for the Palmetto Bowl game between the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks and Clemson University's Tigers on Saturday.

He was invited to watch the game by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, who succeeded Trump's GOP rival Nikki Haley in the post after the former president named her U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 2017.

Videos posted on social media showed he was booed upon arriving. However, there were also Trump supporters in the crowd who shouted "We Want Trump" and "USA" when the former president was shown on the jumbotron and other social media videos showed he was also clapped and cheered.

Despite the mixed reaction, posting on his social media platform Truth Social, the Republican omitted to mention that he was met with any hostility at the game, and instead posted a series of articles and clips suggesting he only commanded wide support.

One article he shared from conservative blog The Conservative Treehouse said Trump received "a hero's welcome" at the game. Another post shared from website Just the News said he was "cheered" and picked up "a slew of new endorsements." Trump also posted a video of the crowd cheering with the caption "a beautiful evening in South Carolina." In a different post, from website the Post Millennial, it said the "Crowd goes WILD as Trump attends college football game in Nikki Haley's home state of South Carolina."

Trump beat President Joe Biden in South Carolina by 12 points in 2020. He has maintained a commanding lead in polls over his Republican primaries rivals, including Haley.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, told a Newsweek editor in an email to "step away from your computer on a Saturday night and come to an event sometime to experience the electric Trump effect," after it was initially reported the Republican was booed.

"South Carolina loves President Trump," Cheung said. "Just take a look at all the videos circulating social media of giving him a warm and rousing welcome to the Palmetto Bowl."

Newsweek has contacted representatives for Trump by email for further comment on this story.

Meanwhile, former Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo said Trump's visit to South Carolina shows he is concerned that Haley could "give him a run for his money."

"The reason he's in South Carolina is because Donald Trump's a little worried about Nikki Haley," Curbelo, who represented Florida's 26th congressional district from 2015 to 2019, told host Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC's PoliticsNation.

"She's been growing in the polls and he has to face her one-on-one in some of these early primary states, she could give him a run for his money," Curbelo said.

South Carolina is fourth in the GOP voting calendar after Iowa, and will hold its presidential primary on February 24, 2024, after New Hampshire and Nevada.