WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 presidential race as Republicans look back on South Carolina’s primary and ahead to Nevada’s caucuses on Tuesday and Democrats move past their Nevada contest and await a South Carolina faceoff on Saturday:
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz says that his third place finish in South Carolina is effectively a tie for second place with Marco Rubio.
The Associated Press has called the race for Donald Trump, with Rubio placing second by two-tenths of 1 percentage point over Cruz, who finished third.
Cruz said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that, “last night we effectively tied for second,” adding that, “there is now only one strong conservative remaining in this race who can win.
Cruz says the “game plan from Day One was to do well in the first four states and consolidate conservatives to go forward to Super Tuesday” on March 1. “We’re positioned ideally to do exactly that.”
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says his loss to Hillary Clinton in Nevada probably was caused by lower voter turnout.
The Vermont senator says on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that “We will do well when young people, when working-class people come out” to vote. He adds: “We did not do as good a job as I had wanted to bring out a large turnout.”
The state party estimates that 80,000 Democrats caucused Saturday. That’s about 10,000 more than most expected but still well below the nearly 120,000 who showed up in 2008.
Hillary Rodham Clinton says she understands that independent voters in particular have questions about whether they can trust her.
She says on CNN’s “State of the Union” that voters have an “underlying question…is she in it for us or is she in it for herself?”
She adds: “That’s a question that people are trying to sort through…I know that I have to make my case.”
The FBI is investigating whether classified information passed through Clinton’s homebrew server while she was secretary of state.
Donald Trump is rejecting the idea that the Republican nomination is his to lose after his big win in South Carolina.
Trump says on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he still faces some tough competition, so “I don’t want to say it’s mine.”
Trump was asked about Marco Rubio’s suggestion that he needs to be more specific about his policy ideas. The billionaire businessman responded that he has “great knowledge of foreign policy.” And he says he’s a better vision for how to end the bloodshed and unrest in Syria than those who offer themselves as “great military geniuses.”
Marco Rubio says he’s in good shape to more directly take on Donald Trump as a smaller Republican field moves on after South Carolina.
The Florida senator tells CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the choice for Republicans is becoming “clearer and clearer” now that rival Jeb Bush is out of the race.
Rubio says it’s time for Trump — who won in South Carolina on Saturday — to start spelling out clear policy positions on national security matters, health care and more.
Rubio puts it this way: “If you’re running to be president, you can’t just tell people you’re going to make America great again.”
And then coming up is Super Tuesday — March 1 — when voters in a dozen states plus American Samoa pick their presidential favorites.
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