White House race: Trump triumphs, Hillary on a high but battered Bush bows out

The Donald Trump bandwagon shows no sign of slowing its push to the White House. The billionaire businessman swept aside his Republican rivals with a thumping win in South Carolina. Such was the scale of his victory that an emotional one-time favourite Jeb Bush was forced to suspend his candidacy. “The people from Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire have spoken, and I really respect their decision,” the former governor said. For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton held off a late surge from Bernie Sanders to take Nevada.

It’s tough, it’s nasty, it’s mean, it’s vicious. It’s beautiful - when you win it’s beautiful.

Donald Trump

Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio appeared to be in a close battle for second place in the Palmetto State, according to projections by Fox News and NBC News, which called the contest for Mr Trump. Mr Bush earlier told Sky News he thought Mr Trump was a “bully”, and the former Florida governor argued he was the one “to fix the mess” in an “insecure” world. Many eyes will now be on Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who the Republican mainstream core will likely look to as their leading candidate now that Jeb Bush has quit. "This country is ready for a new generation of conservatives to lead this country into the 21st century,“ Mr Rubio said.

Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other.

Hillary Clinton

US election