Biden Didn't Win By a Landslide
The Claim
Joe Biden won the U.S. presidential election by a landslide.
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Emerging story
In 2016, President Donald Trump called his victory a “landslide.” Now, some are taking a page out of his book to claim that this year Joe Biden won the election in a landslide.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar has discovered that neither of the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections were won by landslides. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, in 2016, Trump’s margin of victory actually ranks among the closest in the Electoral College. Trump beat Hillary Clinton 306 to 232. In 2020, the margin of victory was exactly the same with President-elect Joe Biden beating Trump 306 to 232 according to APnews.com.
According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, that would leave Biden (as it did Trump) in the bottom third when ranking presidents by the percentage of Electoral College votes. Biden won a larger percentage of the popular vote than Trump in 2016.
Historically speaking, the presidential race between Biden and Trump was very close compared to past presidents such as Ronald Regan, Richard Nixon, or Lyndon Johnson, where they earned more than 90 percent of the electoral college votes. These candidates could more accurately brag that they won by a landslide.
While Joe Biden won both the electoral college and popular votes, he did not win by a landslide.
