Trump wins South Carolina primary, as he closes in on the Republican nomination

(CNN) —& Former& President Donald Trump& won& South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary& Saturday, further tightening his grip on the nomination and leaving his last remaining major rival,& Nikki Haley, to consider her dwindling options. The former president has swept all GOP nominating contests to date, first beating the field by large margins in Iowa and New Hampshire, before cleaning up in Nevada, where Haley didn’t appear on the ballot, and in the US Virgin Islands. But his romp in South Carolina, which twice elected Haley its governor, might be the& most impressive of this campaign. & “This was a little sooner than we anticipated, and even bigger win than we anticipated,” Trump told a crowd at his election night watch party in Columbia shortly after being projected the winner. Flanked onstage by a who’s who of Palmetto State political leaders, including Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Tim Scott, Trump declared, “I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now.” While Scott’s fellow South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham, was booed at Trump’s event, Scott was welcomed to the podium by wild cheers. He has emerged, since dropping out of the primary and endorsing Trump, as one...