Donald Trump's Latest Win Is Bad Omen for Election: Republican Strategist

Despite his victory, Donald Trump's results in South Carolina could still be a bad omen for his general election chances, political strategist Reed Galen predicted on Tuesday.

Former President Trump is the overwhelming favorite to secure the 2024 GOP nomination for president, having led polls by sizeable margins for over a year and won all of the party's state-level primary races so far. Last week, he notched another victory in South Carolina. The state had been considered the last where an upset could take place, given that it is the home state of the only other major candidate left in the race, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

While he did secure victory in the Palmetto State, he did so with a considerably lower percentage of the vote compared to earlier primaries, taking a little under 60 percent of the vote. Haley, by comparison, received close to 40 percent of the vote.

Conservative political strategist Galen told MSNBC's The 11th Hour host Stephanie Ruhle on Monday these results were "catastrophic", continuing a trend in the other primaries in which Trump has "not consolidated his base" of voters, indicating he might not have the support needed against President Joe Biden in November.

Galen, co-founder of the anti-Trump political action committee (PAC), The Lincoln Project, also cited a survey predicting a considerable number of Republican voters in the state would not vote for Trump if he became the GOP nominee.

"If you look at...the South Carolina results, there were 25 percent of people in South Carolina, Republican primary voters, who said they wouldn't vote for Trump," Reed said. "That is catastrophic, singularly catastrophic for Trump. He can't lose any more votes, Stephanie."

He continued: "The more that he does this year, the crazier he's going to be. Remember, the way to keep his base fired up is to say and do crazier and crazier things. As he does that, he will push more and more Nikki Haley-type Republicans back into the undecided poll."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email on Tuesday for comment. Any responses received will be added to this story in a later update.

Despite so far failing to make a dent in Trump's success, Haley has pledged to remain in the race for the nomination until Super Tuesday. She has also become cagier about her past commitment to support Trump as the eventual nominee.