Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden of having brought America to its knees as he gave a victory speech following his Super Tuesday wins.
The former occupant of the White House dominated the Republican primary votes behind held on the night, winning in a dozen states - including delegate-rich California and Texas - to brush aside his lone remaining rival, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Trump is projected to win in all bar one primary which was up for grabs on Super Tuesday, leaving him almost certain to clinch his third consecutive presidential nomination, despite facing a litany of criminal charges.
Speaking after the projections, the 45th President branded Biden the "worst president in the history of our country" and claimed that inflation was "destroying the middle class".
Accusing him of having failed on everything from crime to the economy to securing the southern border, Trump promised that if he returned to the White House he would "take back our country".
"November 5 is going to go down as the single most important day in the history of our country," he added.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden both won in their respective primaries on TuesdayreutersAddressing supporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort, he continued: "Our cities are being overrun with migrant crime and that’s Biden migrant crime.
"They’ll stand in the middle of the street and have fistfights with police officers...The world is laughing at us. The world is taking advantage of us."
Trump did not mention Haley at all in his speech.
Tuesday's results will only intensify the pressure on the Republican candidate to drop out of the race.
She did not make a public appearance on Tuesday, and her campaign has not scheduled any events going forward.
In a statement, her spokesperson said the vote showed "there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump."
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Donald Trump addressed supporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday night
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Donald Trump said his successor was 'worst president in the history of our country'
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Biden too did not give a speech following his own victories in the Democrat primaries which took place yesterday, but did release a statement criticising his likely opponent come later this year.
Squaring up for a rematch of the 2020 US Presidential election, he said: "Tonight's results leave the American people with a clear choice: Are we going to keep moving forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division, and darkness that defined his term in office?"
As the incumbent of the White House, Biden's nomination is in many ways a formality, but some results in the Democratic primaries will have caused raised eyebrows.
A protest vote in Minnesota, organised by activists opposed to his forceful support of Israel, attracted unexpectedly strong results.
Nikki Haley did not make a public appearance on Tuesday
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Joe Biden said Donald Trump would 'drag us backwards into the chaos, division, and darkness' of the past
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The "uncommitted" vote in Minnesota stood at nearly 20 per cent with more than half the estimated vote counted, according to projections.
Biden nevertheless won Minnesota and 14 other states, including a mail-in vote in Iowa that ended on Tuesday.
He did suffer one loss, in the US territory of American Samoa's caucus, where entrepreneur Jason Palmer won 51 votes to Biden's 40, according to the American Samoa Democratic Party.
