US President Joe Biden and his predecessor and rival Donald Trump inched closer to a presidential rematch in November by notching more victories in the primaries.
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Trump and Biden won the primaries in Arizona, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio, and the former President also won in Florida, where Democrats had canceled their primaries and awarded all delegates to Biden.
In Florida, Trump swept the Republican primary taking home all the 125 delegates. Indian-origin former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who has now withdrawn from the race, got 14 percent of the votes and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received four percent of the votes in a low turnout. Now Trump has 1,623 delegates and Biden has 2,483 delegates.
Meanwhile, Bernie Moreno, a wealthy car dealer, won the Republican primary in Ohio. He was backed by Trump, who praised his endorsed candidate as a "warrior" and ramped up his dark rhetoric, saying that were he not to be elected, "it's going to be a bloodbath for the country".
There was little suspense about Tuesday's results as both candidates are already their parties' presumptive nominees. The primaries and key down-ballot races have now become a reflection of the national political mood. With many Americans unenthusiastic about 2024's choice for the White House, both Biden and Trump's campaigns are working to fire up their bases by tearing into each other and warning of the perils of the opponent.