Trump and Sanders send rivals scrambling

South Carolina is the next battlefield for presidential candidate nominees from both major political parties in the United States. This comes after the shock New Hampshire primary results, which saw Donald Trump emerge the winner and Bernie Sanders crush former frontrunner Hillary Clinton in decisive victories in the Republican and Democratic polls respectively.

Although the results matched the polling predictions in the state, the scale of the victories was much more dramatic than expected. This was particularly the case in the Sanders vs Clinton contest, while Trump successfully reversed the dent in his campaign that came in the wake of his loss to Ted Cruz in Iowa. Cruz came third in New Hampshire, with John Kasich taking second place.

The field of Republican candidates has been thinned out by the results, with Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina both opting to drop out of the race after disappointingly coming sixth and seventh respectively. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is likewise in damage control mode after she comprehensively lost to Sanders.

Trump appeared on NBC in the wake of his victory and gave a more low-key presidential interview than has sometimes been the case. His fiery anti-immigration rhetoric has fueled the ire of many media commentators and immigrant advocacy groups.

Senator Marco Rubio is another candidate feeling the pressure after falling to fifth place in the New Hampshire polls. The son of Cuban immigrants has been criticized by many for various reasons, including his changing stance on the immigration issue.