Donald Trump Loses 2020 Election, AP and CBS News Project

On Saturday morning, The Associated Press and CBS News officially projected former Vice President Joe Biden to win the 2020 presidential election. Many pundits labeled this election as one of the most important decisions made by the American population as voters came out in record numbers to elect Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States, leaving Donald Trump as the losing incumbent after just one term in office. Polls going into election night suggested that Biden was in for a strong showing, and it turns out that unlike the 2016 polls that predicted Hillary Clinton was in the lead, these models’ conclusions held to be true.

Trump will likely not concede the election to Biden, as he has spent the days after Election Day falsely claiming with no evidence that votes were stolen from him and his campaign, and even urging that voting and vote counting be stopped. His comments have been criticized by many, even those in his own political party. Former New Jersey governor and Trump adviser Chris Christie merely said that there was “no basis” to make the argument on Tuesday night that Trump had won. Without mentioning Trump by name, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida tweeted, “The result of the presidential race will be known after every legally cast vote has been counted.”

The 2020 election results saw some states that Trump and his team were banking on securing once again flip from red to blue. These included Michigan and Pennsylvania, which both were emphasized in the day leading up to the election by both candidates on their respective campaign stops. As was the case when he won in 2016, Trump was on the losing end of the popular vote, but this time around lost out on some of the most critical states in the electoral college and was unable to pick up the 270 that were needed to win.

Based on the results, it appears that voters were influenced by Biden’s plan to bring an end to the coronavirus and jumpstart the recovery process in 2021. This strategy comes after Trump urged his supporters that the virus was a “hoax” and that the country was “turning a corner,” a comment that gained national attention as America approached six-figure daily counts for the first time during the pandemic in the days leading up to the election. His continued downplay of COVID-19 continued on and even strengthened following his and his wife’s diagnoses in September that left him hospitalized in Walter Reed Medical Center before returning to the campaign trail.

Trump will officially be removed from his White House office on Jan. 20, 2021, making way for Biden’s presidential inauguration. Biden becomes just the second former vice president, previously serving alongside Barack Obama for his two terms, to be elected to president. The only other to do so was Richard Nixon. Nine other vice presidents eventually ascended to the presidency due to death or resignation. Also making Biden’s election significant is his vice president, Kamala Harris, becoming the first woman — and the first woman of color — to hold that position.