Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

CNN Fact-Checker Compiles All the Times Trump Bragged About His 2016 Margin Now That Biden Might Match It

CNN Fact-Checker Compiles All the Times Trump Bragged About His 2016 Margin Now That Biden Might Match It
Win McNamee/Getty Images // Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Make us preferred on Google


Since his upset victory in 2016, President Donald Trump has frequently bragged about the electoral margin by which he beat Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.


Clinton won the popular vote by nearly three million votes, but narrowly lost crucial swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, leaving the projected electoral college at 306 \votes to Trump and 232 to Clinton (two electors didn't cast votes for Trump despite their state's vote, while five did the same for Clinton, leaving the final certification total at 304-227).

For years, Trump would claim that he won the electoral college by the "biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan." Like 20+ thousand of the President's other statements since inauguration, this was false. Only four years before, former President Barack Obama won the electoral college with 332 votes. In reality, Trump's electoral victory was by the 46th largest margin of 58 elections.

Flash forward to 2020.

Votes continue to be counted in four states, the most crucial of which is Pennsylvania, which Trump can't lose and in which Democratic nominee Joe Biden's lead is growing.

In fact, Biden is leading in all four of the outstanding swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.

If these leads hold, which many are expected to, the initial electoral tally will be:

306 for Biden, 232 for Trump.

In other words, Biden is currently on track to win against Trump with the same number of electoral votes that Trump won in 2016.

CNN Fact Checker Daniel Dale noted this and reminded people how frequently Trump sensationalized his 2016 victory margin.


The rundown included Trump gems like:

"And then it got bigger and bigger and wilder and wilder, and then we won by a lot. Don't forget it was 306 to 223. That's a lot. Remember?"

And his claims of a "massive landslide victory":

"We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College."

One that "the people haven't seen in a long time."

"We had a tremendous landslide, Electoral College victory the people haven't seen in a long time."

People were excited to see the karmic potential margin.





Except, unlike in 2016, the 2020 likely electoral winner will have won the popular vote.




Votes across the nation continue to be counted.

More from People/donald-trump

Montana Jordan and Emily Osment
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

'Young Sheldon' Star Explains Why She Asked For An Intimacy Coordinator On The Show—And It Makes Sense

Entertainment journalist and Glamour magazine Senior West Coast Editor Jessica Radloff's new book, Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy, shared a story about actor Emily Osment joining the show in its fifth season that's drawing praise for her consideration for her fellow child star, Montana Jordan.

Osment, who began acting at age five, is one of a rare breed in Hollywood—a child star turned successful adult actor. It's a journey many kids have infamously stumbled on, but that Jordan has also successfully navigated perhaps in part thanks to Osment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Participants at the meeting of the furry scene Eurofurence in the Hotel Estrel in Berlin, Germany
Jens Kalaene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Texas GOP's Bizarre Text Warning Voters About 'Weirdo Furry Socialists' Sparks Mockery

A Texas political action committee sparked online mockery after multiple people independently told the San Antonio Current they received a text message urging Texans to vote Republican to keep so-called "furry Socialists" from choosing their leaders.

The message was sent Saturday alongside a photo purportedly showing a man wearing a fox-tail accessory as he left a polling location in Collin County. The message identified its sender as Texans for Common Sense, a political action committee funded entirely by Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, a far-right organization backed by West Texas oil billionaire Tim Dunn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nicki Minaj
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Nicki Minaj Is Now Being Floated As A Possible White House Press Secretary—And It's Beyond Parody

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung had critics rolling their eyes after he shared a video of himself with rapper Nicki Minaj and floated her as the next press secretary.

Cheung's post comes as the White House continues to hunt for a replacement for Katie Zacharia, who was fired after just five days on the job.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alexander Skarsgård attends the Los Angeles premiere of Black Bear's "Wicker" at Directors Guild Of America.
Maya Dehlin/WireImage

Alexander Skarsgård's Unexpected Confession About Finding The Grinch Hot Sparks Hilarious Reactions

Some people want a man who's tall, dark, and handsome. Alexander Skarsgård prefers green, hairy, and someone who hates Christmas with a passion.

It all went down during a Bustle interview promoting Wicker, when Skarsgård and co-star Olivia Colman got into a “hear me out” discussion that took an unexpectedly naughty turn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump in the Oval Office surrounded by Catholic Bishops and Archbishops
@MargoMartin47/X

Catholic Leaders Slam Trump White House For Turning Private Prayer Into Political Photo Op

On the afternoon of Thursday, October 22, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Special Assistant to the President and Communications Advisor Margo Martin posted a video of Catholic leaders praying with the POTUS in the Oval Office.

Martin, who has been with Trump since his first term, captioned the video:

Keep ReadingShow less