Trump’s Tiny Mandate
Don’t believe the hype.
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election was not “resounding.”
It was not a “landslide.”
It was not an “earthquake,” “tsunami,” or “red tide.”
An actual look at the numbers shows that his win was far more modest than hysterical headlines would lead you to believe.
As of November 21, the Harris-Walz ticket won 74,191,964 votes (48.3%), according to the Associated Press. Trump-Vance won 76,733,150 votes (50.0%) of votes cast. The numerical difference between these numbers is is 2,541,186; or 1.7%.
However, even this below-2% margin of victory seems bigger than it is.
US News and World Report estimates that 244,000,000 Americans were eligible to vote in this election. Trump’s margin of victory as a percentage of that number is far less impressive: 1%.
Furthermore, over 90 million Americans either voted for a third party or stayed home: a figure that dwarfs the totals for both major-party candidates.
Looking more closely at the electoral college total — 312 for trump and 226 for Harris — reveals a different story, too.
This figure does look more like a “landslide,” but that’s because most states award electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis (Maine and Nebraska are exceptions, apportioning them by congressional district).
If the national electoral college were simply proportional to the popular vote, the totals would be (about) 260 for Harris and 269 for Trump.
That looks much closer, doesn't it?
Of course, that isn’t how electoral votes are awarded, but it could be. Whatever happened to electoral reform, anyway?
The press is doing a terrible job of describing the 2024 election’s results. Trump’s mandate, which exists, is quite small. However, relying on convenient images and narratives isn’t just lazy — it’s a dereliction of the Fourth Estate’s duty to the public.
