Guardian analysis suggests Harris underperformed compared with 2020 – but in the states that mattered most it was Trump’s gains that won him the White House

Summary

The recent U.S. election saw a significant Democratic underperformance, with Kamala Harris drawing 1.4 million fewer votes than Joe Biden in 2020, while Donald Trump gained 1.1 million additional votes.

Nationally, Democrats lost more votes than Republicans gained, but in key swing states like Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, Trump’s gains outpaced Harris’s losses, securing his victory.

In many counties, Democratic votes dropped sharply even where Republican gains were modest.

Higher turnout in swing states, driven by Trump supporters, was a crucial factor in his win.

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
    291·
    2 months ago

    In a way Trump’s vote stayed flat too. He didn’t get that many votes more than last time. Meaning he does have a hard ceiling. Problem was that Harris received less votes in certain segments than Biden, mostly men.

    • mommykink@lemmy.worldEnglish
      155·
      2 months ago

      I don’t think so. The total number of votes didn’t change much, but it isn’t like the exact same people from 2020 came out for him again. He made massive gains in black and Hispanic voters, for example, so his base isn’t necessarily capped yet.

      • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
        20·
        2 months ago

        In 2020, Biden received 81,284,666 votes, Trump 74,224,319.

        Last Tuesday Harris received 69,119,332 votes, Trump 73,461,159.

        • Blackbeard@lemmy.worldEnglish
          62·
          2 months ago

          There are still millions of uncounted votes in CA. Trump has gone from 72.6 million yesterday morning to 73.4 million today. Y’all really need to stop quoting these numbers as if they’re anything but preliminary.

          edit: Knee-jerk downvoting of a factual correction. Class act right here. Screen shot for those who have poor vision and/or analytical reasoning skills…

          edit 2: Up to 74.2 million Trump votes and 70.3 million Harris votes now, and counting.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    192·
    2 months ago

    We can’t out trump trump.

    His voters might answer a poll that they like the Dem agrees with trump now, but they’ll never vote D.

    Chasing them just pisses off actual Dem voters, which leads to them not voting.

    It’s literally the same as Charlie Brown trying to kick that fucking football. Except in this case our lives hinge on making a fucking field goal, and someone pays Charlie Brown to keep letting Lucy hold the ball and pretending to be surprised.

  • chakan2@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    2 months ago

    I have yet to get a positive on this…Does anyone know anyone that sat this election out personally? I’m not judging, I just want to hear someone say yes.

    • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
      121·
      2 months ago

      Yep, talked to an old coworker from GA the day before. Got “neither party will help me”. Doesn’t take the threat from Trump seriously. I won’t be talking to that person again.

      • chakan2@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        Thanks…see my comment above.

        I kept getting the internet stories regurgitated at me rather than first hand knowledge. It’s statistically unlikely out of the 50-100 Democrats I know, none of them sat this out. It’s 1 in 7 by last count, I should know someone…

        Anyway, thanks for proving me wrong.

        • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
          71·
          2 months ago

          The biggest and most painful lesson I’ve learned this week is that the average American is a bad person, even within my friends and family. Being a decent human being in America is an exception. They knew and didn’t care. The ones who sat out and the ones who voted for this truly deserve all the pain coming their way.

        • IMongoose@lemmy.world
          2·
          2 months ago

          It seems really localized. My county had almost 80% of registered voters vote, which seems crazy high to me.

    • Aviandelight @mander.xyz
      5·
      2 months ago

      Yes a few of my male friends did. One was typical genx “meh” and the others just hated Kamala because she’s a woman. Honestly it’s disgusting.

      • chakan2@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        Thanks. Ok…I guess we did sit this one out. I was hoping I could bank on election fraud over the US being a giant turd of indifference…but alas.