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Updated at 12:50pm
TEXAS SENATOR TED Cruz has won Republican caucuses in Alaska by a slim margin over Donald Trump today.
It was Cruz’s third victory in the Super Tuesday primary and caucus votes in a dozen states against seven wins for Trump.
Alaska in the far west was the last state to report its results.
However, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump still took a giant step toward securing the White House nominations of their parties, thumping rivals in the majority of Super Tuesday primaries.
Bellicose billionaire Trump weathered a barrage of attacks from fellow Republicans to win seven of 11 states, coming within striking distance of becoming the Republican nominee to replace President Barack Obama.
Clinton also racked up seven wins with her strategy of embracing President Barack Obama appearing to pay dividends.
She beat rival Bernie Sanders handily across a host of southern US states – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas – winning big among African-American voters and reversing a 2008 primary loss in Virginia.
The former secretary of state also claimed Massachusetts, in a close race.
Sanders notched wins in his tiny home state of Vermont, Oklahoma, Colorado and in Minnesota, but he now trails heavily.
Both Trump and Clinton signaled their focus is beginning to shift to the general election.
In victory remarks, Clinton attacked Trump’s pledge to “make America great again.”
“America never stopped being great!” she said to cheers from supporters in Miami.
“It’s clear tonight that the stakes in this election have never been higher, and the rhetoric we’re hearing on the other side has never been lower.”
Trump painted Clinton – the former first lady, senator and secretary of state – as a Washington insider, who cannot address a furious electorate’s desire for change.
“She’s been there for so long. I mean if she hasn’t straightened it out by now, she’s not going to straighten it out in the next four years,” he said.
A recent CNN/ORC poll found that both Clinton and Sanders would easily defeat Trump if the general election – set for 8 November – were held now.
But few are likely to underestimate the 69-year-old Trump after his primary rout.
Republican unease
Super Tuesday was the most pivotal day of the US presidential primary season so far, with half the Republican delegates and a third of Democratic delegates needed to win the nominations up for grabs.
Trump’s victories were widespread, from Alabama and Georgia in the deep south, to Massachusetts in the northeast, to the vital battleground state of Virginia.
The scope and scale of the victories will sow terror among establishment Republicans, who fear the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan could face general electoral annihilation.
While Trump’s rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz struggled to make the case they can still win, Trump tried to defuse an intra-party feud that may be the only serious obstacle remaining on his path to the nomination.
He offered an olive branch to party leaders who are fighting a rearguard action, making the case he can unify and grow the party.
“I think we’ll be more inclusive and more unified. I think we’ll be a much bigger party,” Trump said, easing up on his hallmark bombast.
However, any way you look at it, it was Trump’s night, as he won big and his two top rivals did well enough to stay in the race and thus keep their supporters divided, said Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a political newsletter published by the University of Virginia.
“Happiness for Donald Trump is a divided opposition. He’s got precisely that and it’s going nowhere for the time being,” the newsletter said.
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My daughter is a social care worker with adults with learning difficulties & in her place of work they still haven’t been tested. All these adults are all live in house’s where she works.
I’d like to see some up to date reports of testing figures. This article quotes 188,837 from last Saturday, even though a figure of 214,761 has been published since then. What is the current figure for community testing?
It is right we test the people in Direct Provision as a priority because they have suffered enough after fleeing war torn countries.
@Frances Faller: nobody should be a priority in this. Everybody needs to be treated the same. Nobody’s health is more or less important than anyone else, does not matter where they came from
@Frances Faller: This is a common misconception. One can claim asylum under many different categories including sexual orientatation
@Ali Ní Dhomhnaill: maybe not a priority but their pleas shouldn’t be falling on deaf ears for weeks now. Money talks – FG don’t want to challenge those making a fortune out it direct provision to implement social distancing.
Also the Irish public just doesn’t care.
@Ali Ní Dhomhnaill: not true. Not everyone has the luxury of isolating themselves. People in direct provision and nursing homes are by default in environments where it’s difficult to isolate and where the virus is more easily transmitted. Tackling these outbreaks helps to eradicate the virus for everyone.
@Frances Faller: but what to do with the with people in direct provision that are making a mockery of the asylum process Pamela Izevbekhai springs to mind, cost the state half a millon Euro.There is no war in Albania, Moldova,Nigeria,Zimbabwe,Pakistan and Bangladesh to name but a few.
@JJandtim Dwyer: The Irish went all over the world and was treated very well and a lot became millionaires. All the refugees want is the same chance.
@Frances Faller: no problem with people coming from war torn countries, but as a certain Judge who is an expert on the topic,stated that 95% of asylum seekers are not telling the truth on why they came to Ireland, but in fact they come for work/migration
@Frances Faller: you are terrible at trolling
@Frances Faller: Have absolutely no problem with people coming here from a war torn country, its their right to seek shelter from tyranny,but I will not be made a fool of by those that spin the most outrageous yarns to gain access to my country.
I am sick to death of this comparison of , The Irish went all over the world , of course they did as they had their land was confiscated and their crops stolen , and were transported for stealing a loaf of bread, They built countries infrastructure , railways , highways, Dams and broke their backs doing it and never requested a nice hotel in the city.with 3 meals a day and weekly payment.
Their is nothing free in this world we al have to do our bit there is no such thing as a free lunch.
@JJandtim Dwyer: Well said. That horse that is usually trotted out about the Irish going “all over the world” when really it was to anglophone countries in the vast majority of cases, and as you rightly point out – it was sink or swim for those Irish souls.
Deport.
Why were they tested? Were they in at risk categories?
The Irish went all over the world and were treated well?? It’s for exactly the opposite reason we should have empathy with asylum seekers ‘ no dogs and no Irish ‘
have your say