Trump beats Haley in Michigan primary but underperforms expectations

Former president Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley in the Michigan Republican presidential primary on Tuesday evening, continuing his streak of victories as he marches toward his party’s nomination.

But Mr Trump severely underperformed despite only nominal competition from Ms Haley, as he continued to show weak performances in the suburbs of Detroit and elsewhere in the state.

The contest came after he resoundingly defeated Ms Haley in her home state of South Carolina, where she won two terms as governor before Mr Trump nominated her to be US ambassador to the United Nations in his administration.

Mr Trump for his part bragged about his performance in his victory speech.

“We win Michigan; we win the whole thing,” he said, noting the support he had from auto workers despite the fact that he had criticised the leadership of the United Auto Workers amid their strike and spoke at a non-union function. “And we're going to bring it all back into Michigan and other places in our country. But I just want to thank everybody, you've been so incredible. The numbers are far greater than we even anticipated.”

The vote comes as President Joe Biden hoped to push back against a campaign for Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in protest against his support for Israel in the country’s war against Hamas as it continues to assault Gaza.

Ms Haley’s campaign released a statement insisting she would not leave the primary race.

“Joe Biden is losing about 20 percent of the Democratic vote today, and many say it’s a sign of his weakness in November. Donald Trump is losing about 35 percent of the vote,” spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement. The statement also noted the internal civil war between the Republican Party in the Wolverine