Trump trounces Haley in her home state

OPINION:

There’s a time to turn the page, but it’s only when the story is finished. That’s the message from South Carolina’s Republican primary voters, who showed they’re no more ready to move on from former President Donald Trump than he is willing to depart from a script that concludes with a return to the White House.

Mr. Trump won Saturday’s Palmetto State presidential primary with a comfortable 60% share of votes among a strong Republican turnout. Despite her popularity while serving as South Carolina’s governor and then U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, fellow contender Nikki Haley mustered just 40% — despite generous help from Democrats allowed to vote in the state’s open primary.

Making the most of her youthful looks, competent red-state helmsmanship and solid diplomatic credentials, Ms. Haley has outlasted all GOP rivals except the former president. Ms. Haley had counted on a wall-to-wall TV ad campaign to convince state Republicans that it’s time to “turn the page” on the Trump era. It’s no reflection on her qualifications that in South Carolina, where a sense of right and wrong still matters, voters disagreed.

Leading the list of wrongs that Americans charge to President Biden’s faulty leadership is a border policy that has flooded the nation with millions of illegal immigrants. According to an Edison Research exit poll, the dysfunctional southern border topped the priorities list in South Carolina, named as most pressing by 37% of primary voters. The economy ranked second at 33%, and foreign policy followed at 13%.

Judging from the enthusiasm of pro-Trump crowds, South Carolinians were equally driven by their sense of injustice heaped upon the former president in Democratic-controlled strongholds. Voters reckon that abandoning Mr. Trump to the depredations of his opponents would ensure that no Republican challenger will be spared similarly rough treatment in the future.

The list of insults to justice is extensive: New York courts entertaining novel business-law charges that name no victim and innuendo-laden sexual assault and defamation lawsuits that stand to cost the Republican front-runner half a billion dollars. In the Empire State, an outlandish federal campaign finance case also looms.

In Washington, Mr. Trump faces charges for urging Americans disturbed by 2020 election irregularities to display their displeasure by protesting “peacefully and patriotically.” Another trial awaits for getting crossways with presidential record-keepers. In Georgia, he is confronted with racketeering allegations for asking election authorities to “find” more 2020 votes. On all fronts, the Democratic Party’s bag of legal dirty tricks threatens to bankrupt and imprison Mr. Biden’s likely Election Day opponent.

Meanwhile, Ms. Haley vows to fight on, reportedly preparing seven-figure ad buys leading up to Super Tuesday on March 5, when Republicans will cast primary ballots in 15 states and one U.S. territory. Barring a startling breakthrough, she will fall too far behind the Trump juggernaut to have a realistic expectation of securing the party’s nomination.

Mr. Trump’s “make America great again” script has no role for the South Carolina runner-up. Ultimately, it’s up to voters whether to decide whether follow Mr. Trump’s narrative or, as Ms. Haley urges, to “turn the page.”