On Feb. 7, presidential candidate Marianne Williamson announced the end of her run for the Democratic nomination. The decision came in the wake of her second place performance at the South Carolina primary, trailing incumbent President Biden’s 96% win by a 94% difference, since she secured 2.1% of all the votes. Williamson only defeated Minnesota representative Dean Phillips, and by less than 1%. 

Politico describes that Williamson “struggled with raising money” and her campaign suffered from a lack of organization. More specifically, the article points to a lack of consistent staff members running her campaign, stating that a “mix of firings and resignations” reduced personnel to a “skeleton staff.” Williamson’s withdrawal leaves Joe Biden and Dean Phillips to compete for the Democratic ticket, with Biden leading the race.

The South Carolina Republican primary results will be released on Feb. 24. This primary is of particular concern for Republican challenger Nikki Haley, given that she is the former governor of the state. In an effort to bolster support in her home state where support for former president Donald Trump has been widespread, Haley is embarking on a bus tour that intends to “ramp up” voter interest to supplement her “repeated critiques” of Trump for failing to campaign there, according to the Associated Press. 

Politico considers South Carolina’s primary to be the “make-or-break moment for anyone other than Trump to remain in the Republican race.” If Haley is unable to close the gap between her and Trump in her home state, the likelihood of her having a chance at winning the Republican nomination is “unlikely.”

Despite Trump and Biden’s respective leads within their parties, a rematch between the two candidates is not desired by a sizable number of Americans, according to a Reuters poll. 70% of all respondents believe that Biden should not pursue re-election — with half of total Democrats agreeing. On the other hand, 56% of voters believe that Trump should not run, including a third of Republican respondents. Reuters stressed that most respondents from both parties think that each candidate is too old for the position. Biden, inaugurated at 78, is already the oldest president in U.S. history, and if Trump were to win this election, he would be inaugurated at 78 as well. 

While Biden continues to defend his age and memory to voters, Trump’s legal battles are far from over.

On Feb. 8, the Supreme Court started its hearings on whether or not states are able to restrict Trump from appearing on their ballots. According to Section 3 of Amendment 14, anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the government after taking an oath to uphold the Constitution is ineligible for re-election. Colorado and Maine have invoked this clause, and as of now, Trump will not be appearing on their state ballots. Following these decisions, Trump appealed to the Supreme Court, allowing the justices to deliberate the constitutionality of states’ right to restrict him from their ballots.