President Joe Biden officially became the Democratic nominee just minutes after polls closed Tuesday night in Georgia.
Former President Donald Trump is expected to clinch the Republican nomination with Tuesday’s primary contests as well.
Earlier Tuesday, Democrats in the Northern Marianas Islands handed Biden a win – as the current commander-in-chief received 93 votes to longshot hopeful Jason Palmer’s four and self-help guru Marianne Williamson’s two.
Georgia was quickly called for Trump and Biden shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m., with CNN projecting that Biden had amassed enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee.
Mississippi was also quickly called for both Trump and Biden, with results coming in later Tueday from Washington state as well as Hawaii for Republicans.
President Joe Biden officially became the presumptive Democratic nominee Tuesday night, after winning contests in the Northern Marianas Islands and Georgia
Former President Donald Trump easily won the Georgia primary and is expected to earn enough delegates Tuesday to become the presumptive Republican presidential nominee
The president needed 1,968 delegates to become his party’s official nominee.
Trump needs 1,215 delegates and has 1,184 with his Tuesday wins in Georgia and Mississippi.
Last week Trump dominated in the so-called Super Tuesday races and rid himself of his final rival, former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley.
Haley dropped out of the presidential race Wednesday, though didn’t endorse Trump on her way out.
Still, a significant amount of Republican voters in Georgia came out Tuesday and supported Haley.
With about 92 percent of the vote counted, around 13.3 percent had selected Haley.
Biden practically ran the map on Super Tuesday said for one exception – he lost the American Samoa caucus to Baltimore-based entrepreneur Jason Palmer, who wasn’t even considered a mainstream Democratic hopeful before his win.
Since then, Palmer has said he’ll carry on with his challenge, while Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips dropped out Wednesday.
Longshot Democratic hopeful Jason Palmer speaks last Tuesday after surprising the world by winning the caucus in American Samoa, putting his name on the map
Voters line up to cast their ballots Tuesday in Mississippi’s Democrat and Republican primaries for president
Self-help guru Marianne Williamson dropped out of the race in February, but relaunched her campaign earlier this month and remains on the Democratic ballot
Williamson, who dropped out of the race in February after a poor showing in Nevada, rebooted her presidential campaign earlier this month after performing better than Phillips in Michigan.
She continues to campaign for the Democratic nomination.
Williamson sent out a note to supporters as CNN was predicting Biden would become the Democratic nominee.
‘Given the political reality, President Biden will probably have the nomination sewn up in terms of the delegate count very soon. But it doesn’t matter. We have the conversation without which Democrats will not win in 2024. And that is why we must keep going,’ Williamson wrote.
Both Trump and Biden campaigned in Georgia over the weekend ahead of the primary but also to set the table for a general election fight in the state.
Biden beat Trump in Georgia in 2020 – a shocking outcome in a state that had been traditionally red.
The Biden-Harris campaign sent out a statement Tuesday marking Biden’s nomination win.
‘Four years ago, I ran for president because I believed we were in a battle for the soul of this nation,’ the president said. ‘Because of the American people, we won that battle, and now 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.’
Biden said the country faces a ‘sobering reality’ as Trump approached winning the Republican nomination again.
‘Freedom and democracy are at risk here at home in a way they have not been since the Civil War,’ the president said.
‘Donald Trump is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America. He is glorifying dictators and pledging to become one himself on day one. He seeks to bury the truth of January 6 by vowing to pardon the insurrectionists who placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy,’ Biden warned.
The president also pointed to comments that Trump made in an interview with CNBC Monday where he suggested cuts to Medicare and Social Security were on the table.
‘He’s rooting for the economy to crash, pushing tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and planning to ban abortion nationwide,’ Biden said.
Voters, the president said, ‘have a choice to make about the future of this country.’
‘Are we going to stand up and defend our democracy or let others tear it down? Will we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms or let extremists take them away?’ Biden asked. ‘Will we finally make the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes – or will we allow corporate greed to run rampant on the backs of the middle class?’
‘I believe that the American people will choose to keep us moving into the future,’ Biden said. ‘With every crisis, America has always emerged stronger and more united on the other side.’
‘This November will be no different – and I believe we will do it together,’ the president added.