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WASHINGTON – What has been lost in all the attention paid to President Trump’s lawsuits, his baseless accusations of voter fraud and his administration’s refusal so far to begin the transition is a simple fact.
The 2020 presidential election was not really that close.
Right now, Joe Biden’s popular vote lead over Trump is 4 percentage points, 51% to 47% – and that will only increase once again as New York’s votes will be (well ) accounts.
This would give Biden the second-largest popular voting margin over the six presidential elections of the 21st century, only Barack Obama’s 7-point victory in 2008 being greater.
When it comes to the Electoral College, the tally is Biden 306, Trump 232 – which happens to be exactly the same split as Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton (but in reverse). And Trump called it a “crushing victory.”
Biden is ahead by 154,000 votes in Michigan (more than Trump’s winning margin of 10,000 votes in 2016).
He is ahead by 81,000 votes in Pennsylvania (nearly twice Trump’s 44,000-vote victory four years ago).
And he’s ahead by more than 20,000 votes in Wisconsin (almost the same as Trump’s 23,000-vote victory there in 2016).
In addition to those leads, Biden also narrowly reversed the traditionally GOP-trending states of Arizona and Georgia.
The 2020 presidential race appeared to be closed 12 hours after the first polling stations closed on election night.
But nearly three weeks later – with nearly all the votes counted – it’s now safe to say the Biden v Trump contest wasn’t that close.
No more cracks in the GOP wall
While Michigan and Pennsylvania are due to meet to certify their results today (although questions remain about what exactly will happen in Michigan), and with Georgia having certified last Friday (although the Trump team did asked for a recount), there are more Republican voices calling Biden the winner.
Or say the Trump administration should prepare for a transition.
After a federal judge dismissed the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania, Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Said on Saturday that Trump had “exhausted all plausible legal options” to challenge the state’s results, and he congratulated “President-elect Biden”.
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., Added that Michigan voters were “speaking” for Biden. “And here again in Michigan, it’s not a razor thin margin,” he said. “It’s 154,000 votes. You have to let those votes stand.”
And on “Meet the Press” yesterday, Senator Kevin Cramer, RN.D. – while asserting that Trump has every right to exhaust his legal options – said the president and his administration should “at least cooperate with the transition.”
Biden begins to deploy his national security team
NBC News on Sunday confirmed reports that President-elect Biden is expected to appoint veteran diplomat Antony “Tony” Blinken as secretary of state.
And this morning, NBC News reports that Biden is expected to select Jake Sullivan as national security adviser and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the UN.
Biden cabinet / transition watch
State: Tony Blinken (expected)
An ambassador: Linda Thomas-Greenfield (expected)
Treasury: Lael Brainard, Janet Yellen and Roger Ferguson
Defense: Michèle Flournoy, Jeh Johnson, Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth
Director of National Intelligence: Senator from Maine Angus King
HHS: Government of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. From California Raul Ruiz, Rep. From California Karen Bass, Dr Vivek Murthy
Internal security: Val Demings, Susan Rice, Bennie Thompson, Xavier Becerra
Interior: Deb Haaland
Agriculture: Heidi heitkamp
Workforce: Andy Levin, Bernie Sanders, Marty Walsh
Education: Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Randi Weingarten
Leader: Ron Klain (appointed)
National Security Advisor: Jake Sullivan (expected)
Downloading data: the numbers you need to know today
6 026 117: Joe Biden’s advance in popular vote at time of publication
12.306.023: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, according to the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 504,004 more than Friday morning.)
257,692: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far. (That’s 4,059 more than Friday morning.)
179.34 million: The number of coronavirus tests that have been administered in the United States so far, according to researchers from the COVID Tracking Project.
83 782: The number of people currently hospitalized with coronavirus
43: The number of days until the second round of the Senate on January 5.
58: The number of days until the day of the inauguration.
Tweet of the day
Georgia Runoff Watch by Ben Kamisar
In today’s Runoff Watch, new ads show how Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock have been on offense and defense simultaneously – both campaigns have come out with new spots that make a big swing on their opponent and seek to defuse a key attack.
Loeffler’s attack ad uses images from Warnock’s sermons to claim that he “attacks our military” and “is dangerous,” before ending with images of Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The Warnock spot, released that same morning, features a group of police officers and sheriffs criticizing Republicans for claiming Warnock supported the police defounding.
On the flip side, the new Warnock spot goes on the offensive to attack Loeffler for his pre-pandemic stock trading, accusing him of protecting “his own interests” from those of average Georgians. And as it did in the special primary, Loeffler’s new spot attempts to refute these accusations by calling them “liberal lies”, noting that the Senate Ethics Committee has dropped its investigation, before touting its pandemic management.
The cover: sixteen years later
Don’t miss Friday’s pod, when we took a look at how much the presidential map has changed – and how it hasn’t changed – since 2004.
ICYMI: What else is going on in the world
Here’s what we know about what can happen in Michigan today at a 1 p.m. ET meeting of the Board of State Canvassers.
Trump is threatening to veto a defense spending bill unless a move to rename military bases honoring Confederate leaders is removed.
Business leaders in New York are urging Trump to begin the transition.
Biden and Harris will virtually meet with mayors to discuss the virus and the economy.
Kelly Loeffler isolates herself after inconclusive test results.
Chris Christie calls Trump’s legal measures “national embarrassment.”
Trump’s post-presidency could be very complicated legally.
The Advertising Council has a difficult new task: to convince skeptics that the Covid vaccine is safe.
Republicans have their eyes on the Senate 2022 map.
Gavin Newsom is under pressure to choose a woman of color for Kamala Harris’ Senate seat.
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