Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign

Donald Trump for President 2020
Campaign
Candidate
AffiliationRepublican Party
Status
  • Announced: June 18, 2019[a]
  • Secured nomination: March 17, 2020
  • Official nominee: August 24, 2020
  • Election day: November 3, 2020
  • Projected defeat: November 7, 2020[1][2]
  • Formally conceded: January 7, 2021
  • Left office: January 20, 2021
HeadquartersArlington, Virginia[3]
Key people
ReceiptsUS$811,898,514.36[19] (October 14, 2020)
Slogan
  • Keep America Great![20][21]
  • Promises made, promises kept[22]
  • Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!
  • Keep America Working
Theme song"Y.M.C.A." by Village People
Website
www.donaldjtrump.com
(archived - October 1, 2020)
This article is part of
a series about
Donald Trump
Business and personal
45th President of the United States
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
Presidential campaigns
Impeachments
Civil and criminal prosecutions
Interactions involving Russia
COVID-19 pandemic
Donald Trump's signature
Seal of the President of the United States

The 2020 presidential campaign of Donald Trump was an unsuccessful reelection campaign by then President Donald Trump, who was the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.

Trump was defeated in the election by Democratic nominee Joe Biden. His presidency ended on January 20, 2021, when Biden was sworn in as the 46th president.

Background

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Trump started spending money on the 2020 race on November 24, 2016 (only sixteen days after the end of the 2016 election).[23] On January 10, 2017, Politico reported that Trump would be keeping his campaign offices in Trump Tower open in order to lay the groundwork for a re-election campaign.[24] On January 18, Trump revealed in an interview with The Washington Post that he had decided on Keep America Great as his 2020 campaign slogan.[25]

Trump launched his reelection campaign significantly earlier in his presidency than his predecessors did. Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan all declared their candidacies for reelection in the third year of their presidencies.[26]

Had Trump been reelected, it would have been the first time in American history that there have been four consecutive presidents who were elected to two terms.[27][28]

Rallies

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The first rally paid for by the campaign was held on February 18, 2017, in Melbourne, Florida,[29] and was attended by an estimated 9,000 supporters.[30]

The campaign's second rally was held a month later in Nashville, Tennessee on March 15, and it was the 250th birthday of Andrew Jackson. Before the rally, Trump paid tribute to Jackson and laid a wreath at his tomb.[31][32] A third rally was held by the campaign in Louisville on March 20, days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.[33][34]

Trump held his fourth campaign rally with Vice President Mike Pence on April 29 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on the 100th day of Trump's presidency.[35]

In June, Trump began campaigning in Iowa. Iowa is considered to be a perennial swing state.[36] Trump held his sixth campaign rally on July 25 at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio.[37]

Trump held his seventh campaign rally at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia on August 3.[38]

Trump held his eighth campaign rally on August 22 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.[39][40]

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Donald Trump held a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The rally was notable for a surprisingly low turnout.[41] However, the rally managed to reach 6.7 million views online. Fox News stated that the rally was its highest Saturday primetime viewership in the network's history[42]

Election Day

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On November 4, Trump claimed to have won the election. However, no clear winner was determined, because final results from states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia were still unknown.[43] Trump was leading in the vote count of those states at the time, however there were many still-uncounted votes, mainly from mail-in ballots which were not yet counted.[44]

Trump attempted to use the courts to stop the vote-counting. His campaign filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Michigan. However, these lawsuits were all rejected.[45][46][47][48]

On November 7, news organizations ABC News, Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, Reuters, and the New York Times said that Trump had lost the election to Biden.[49]

Trump refused to concede upon hearing the news. The administrator of the GSA, Emily W. Murphy, did not cooperate with president-elect Biden until November 23.[50][51] Many Republicans in the Senate claimed that the election was still unsettled,[52] and Attorney General William Barr allowed the Justice Department to investigate alleged "massive voter fraud."

In an interview with the Associated Press published December 1, Attorney General William Barr acknowledged: "To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election."[53] By January, Trump had lost 60 lawsuits.[54]

Further information: Trump–Raffensperger phone call

On January 2, 2021, during an hour-long conference call, Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to change the state's vote totals by the 11,780 votes he needed to win the state. During the call, Trump falsely suggested that Raffensperger could have committed a criminal offense. On January 11, the phone call was cited in a new article of impeachment introduced in the House of Representatives.[55]

Self-declared "alternate electors" voted in protest; these votes had no legal validity.[56] Well over a hundred Republican representatives promised to contest the counting ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.[57][58] Experts debated whether Trump was trying to perform a self-coup.[59][60]

Further information: January 6 United States Capitol attack

On January 6, 2021, Trump spoke at a "March to Save America" rally on the Ellipse. There, he encouraged the crowd to "fight like hell" and said he'd be marching with them to the United States Capitol, although he did not join them. The crowd arrived at the Capitol building and broke in. At the same time, the electoral colleges votes were being counted, and those in the House and Senate had to be evacuated. Five people died from the events, while dozens more were injured, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened over 170 investigations into the events.

Polling

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Throughout the campaign, many polls almost always showed Democratic nominee Joe Biden ahead of Trump.[61][62][63] Trump's campaign rejected these polls, claiming how they incorrectly predicted a Hillary Clinton victory in the 2016 presidential election.[64][65][66] Many people had also come to distrust polls; a study from the Pew Research Center showing that even when Biden led Trump by a wide margin, many people still believed that Trump would win the election.[67]

Trump's polling worsened throughout June and July, mainly in battleground states and states that mainly vote Republican.[68] A mid-July Washington Post/ABC News poll showed Biden's double-digit lead holding.[69]

In August, Trump's polling slightly improved. One national poll conducted then showing Biden leading by just three percent nationally.[70] Trump also began to improve in state polls; one CNN poll at the time showed Biden up by just one percentage point in 15 battleground states.[71] Towards the end of the month however, Biden's lead started to grow again.[72][73][74]

After the 2020 Republican National Convention, Trump's polling improved. By the end of August, Trump had a lead against Biden in key states such as Ohio where he led 50% to 45%, and was polling neck-and-neck with his opponent in other important states such as Florida.[75][76]

Trump's national polling numbers fell heavily again following his performance at the first presidential debate and his COVID-19 diagnosis at the end of September and beginning of October, as Biden's lead went over 10 points. A Washington Post/ABC News poll taken around this period showed Biden's lead to be 53% to 43%.[77]

Trump overestimated his polls on Election Day but lost re-election. Although polling accurately predicted the winner of 48 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, Biden’s margin of victory in many states was much smaller than expected.

Notes

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  1. ↑ Informally announced on February 17, 2017

References

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  1. ↑ Wagner, Meg; Alfonso III, Fernando; Macaya, Melissa; Mahtani, Melissa; Rocha, Veronica; Wills, Amanda (November 7, 2020). "CNN Projection: Joe Biden Wins the Presidency". CNN. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal'". AP NEWS. November 7, 2020. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  3. ↑ Forgey, Quint (November 3, 2020). "Visiting campaign headquarters, Trump says 'losing is never easy'". Politico. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Scott, Eugene (April 17, 2017). "Trump campaign raking in money for 2020, disclosures show". CNN. Retrieved April 27, 2017. Trump's campaign committee has spent about $6.3 million during the first quarter of 2017. That includes giving more than $70,000 to the campaign committee's manager, Michael Glassner, who was Trump's deputy campaign manager, and more than $40,000 to John Pence, Vince [sic] President Mike Pence's nephew, who serves as the committee's deputy director.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Bender, Michael C. (February 19, 2019). "Trump adds senior campaign staff for 2020 race as risk of a GOP primary challenger rises". MarketWatch. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Trump campaign names Hogan Gidley as new press secretary". CBS.
  7. ↑ "Lara Trump becomes face of Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign". The Daily Telegraph. London. October 19, 2017. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Don Jr.'s Girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle Lands Top Trump Campaign Role". The Daily Beast.
  9. ↑ "Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign, is not the type of lawyer she plays on TV". The New York Times. December 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Will This Election Be A Replay Of Bush v. Gore At The Supreme Court? Not Likely". NPR.
  11. ↑ "Trump campaign hires Katrina Pierson". The Hill.
  12. ↑ "Bill Shine resigns from the White House to advise Trump's 2020 campaign". CNBC.
  13. ↑ "Trump body man Johnny McEntee leaving White House for campaign". Politico.
  14. ↑ "Trump campaign hires ex-aide Jason Miller despite past scandals". Politico.
  15. ↑ "Former Trump staffers consulting for president's reelect". Politico.
  16. ↑ "Trump's Jewish point person: President has fought anti-Semitism 'everywhere and anywhere'".
  17. ↑ Levinthal, Dave (May 5, 2017). "Pro-Trump super PACs have already spent $1 million on Election 2020". Publicintegrity.org. The Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Former Trump staffer who penned tell-all book and sued the president, back working on Republican Convention". ABC.
  19. ↑ "Trump, Donald J – Candidate overview – FEC.gov". FEC.gov. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  20. ↑ Tumulty, Karen (January 18, 2017). "How Donald Trump came up with 'Make America Great Again'". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  21. ↑ "'Keep America Great': Trump Reelection Effort Raised $13M So Far, Report Says". Fox News. April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  22. ↑ Benen, Steve (March 21, 2017). "Trump picks the wrong slogan: 'Promises made, Promises kept'". MSNBC. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  23. ↑ Bump, Philip (May 1, 2017). "Donald Trump started spending money on the 2020 race on Nov. 24". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  24. ↑ Isenstadt, Alex (January 10, 2017). "Trump laying the groundwork for 2020 reelection bid". www.politico.com. Politico. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Trump Reveals 2020 Re-Election Slogan: 'Keep America Great!'". FOX News Insider. Fox News. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  26. ↑ Morehouse, Lee (31 January 2017). "Trump breaks precedent, files as candidate for re-election on first day". azfamily.com. Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  27. ↑ Schmuhl, Robert (September 24, 2012). "The Last Time America Had So Many Two-Term Presidents was the 1820s". historynewsnetwork.org. Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (George Washington University). Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  28. ↑ Sharockman, Aaron (April 10, 2014). "How rare is it that we had three presidents re-elected consecutively? Very rare". www.politifact.com. PolitiFact.com. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  29. ↑ Superville, Darlene; Riechmann, Deb (18 February 2017). "Outside of Washington, Trump slips back into campaign mode". Fox News. West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  30. ↑ Miller, Zeke J. (19 February 2017). "Trump Is Already Campaigning For Reelection in 2020". 'Fortune. Time Inc. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  31. ↑ Beckwith, Ryan Teague (March 13, 2017). "President Trump Will Lay a Wreath at Andrew Jackson's Grave". www.time.com. Time Magazine. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  32. ↑ Meyer, Myer; Ebert, Joel (March 15, 2017). "Trump tours The Hermitage, lays wreath on Andrew Jackson's tomb". wwww.tennesean.com. The Tennesseean. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  33. ↑ Merica, Dan (March 20, 2017). "Trump restrains himself in Kentucky, doesn't respond to FBI testimony". www.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  34. ↑ Rosenberg, Matthew; Huetteman, Emmarie; Schmidt, Michael (March 20, 2017). "Comey Confirms F.B.I. Investigation of Russian Election Interference, Links to Trump Campaign". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  35. ↑ Malawskey, Nick (April 26, 2017). "As President Trump heads to Harrisburg, anti-Trump rally planned". www.pennlive.com. Advance Digital. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  36. ↑ "The Odds Of An Electoral College-Popular Vote Split Are Increasing". FiveThirtyEight. 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2017-06-08.[permanent dead link]
  37. ↑ Alex Pappas (July 25, 2017). "Trump celebrates ObamaCare vote, but avoids criticizing Jeff Sessions at Ohio rally". www.foxnews.com. Fox News. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  38. ↑ "President Donald Trump's Re-election rally is Huntington". www.donaldjtrump.com. Donald J. Trump for President. n.d. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  39. ↑ "Pheonix, AZ". www.donaldjtrump.com. Donald J. Trump for President. n.d. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  40. ↑ Isenstadt, Alex (August 21, 2017). "Trump ramping up for 2020 reelection". www.politico.com. Politico. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  41. ↑ "Donald Trump: Tulsa rally fails to draw expected crowds amid virus fears". BBC News. 20 June 2020.
  42. ↑ "Fox News Says It Drew 7.7 Million Viewers for Coverage of Donald Trump's Tulsa Rally". 22 June 2020.
  43. ↑ "With results from key states unclear, Trump declares victory". Reuters. November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  44. ↑ "Tight battle in key states". November 4, 2020. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  45. ↑ Shubber, Kadhim (November 6, 2020). "Trump Pennsylvania litigation getting tepid response from federal judge". Financial Times. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  46. ↑ Schrade, Brad (November 6, 2020). "Georgia judge dismisses Trump campaign case in Chatham ballot dispute". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  47. ↑ Egan, Paul (November 5, 2020). "Judge throws out Trump lawsuit over counting of Michigan ballots". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  48. ↑ Herb, Jeremy; Polantz, Katelyn (November 7, 2020). "'Democracy plain and simple': How the 2020 election defied fraud claims and pandemic fears". CNN. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  49. ↑ Athas, Eric; Carlson, Seth; Keefe, John; Miller, Claire; Parlapiano, Alicia; Sanger-Katz, Margot (3 November 2020). "Tracking Which News Outlets Have Called the Presidential Race in Each State". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  50. ↑ Shear, Michael D.; Fandos, Nicholas; Edmondson, Catie (23 November 2020). "The G.S.A. administrator has formally designated Biden the apparent winner of the presidential election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  51. ↑ "Trump appointee refuses to sign document allowing Biden transition to officially get to work: report". Salon. November 9, 2020.
  52. ↑ Watkins, Morgan. "In Senate speech, Mitch McConnell again won't acknowledge Joe Biden's victory over Trump". The Courier-Journal.
  53. ↑ Perez, Evan; Cole, Devan (1 December 2020). "Barr says no evidence of widespread fraud in presidential election". CNN. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  54. ↑ Cillizza, Chris (29 December 2020). "How suing Mike Pence is the last gasp of the 'election fraud' crowd". CNN. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  55. ↑ "Read the full text of the article of impeachment filed against President Trump". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  56. ↑ Corasaniti, Nick; Rutenberg, Jim (2020-12-15). "No, there aren't 'alternate electors' who can vote for President Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  57. ↑ Caldera, Camille (1 January 2021). "Congress is set to certify Biden's election win Jan. 6. Here's what to expect". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  58. ↑ Tapper, Jake (2 January 2021). "At least 140 House Republicans to vote against counting electoral votes, two GOP lawmakers say". CBS58. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  59. ↑ Tufekci, Zeynep (2020-12-07). "'This Must Be Your First'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  60. ↑ Nakamura, David (5 January 2021). "With brazen assault on election, Trump prompts critics to warn of a coup". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  61. ↑ Yeip, Randy (July 26, 2020). "What Polling Can Tell Us 100 Days From the Election". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  62. ↑ Agiesta, Jennifer (September 2, 2020). "CNN Poll: Biden's lead persists post-conventions". CNN. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  63. ↑ "Joe Biden Leads Donald Trump in Latest Grinnell College National Poll". Grinnell College. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  64. ↑ Knutson, Jacob (16 July 2020). "New Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien dismisses polls in first official statement". Axios.
  65. ↑ Zilbermints, Regina (October 12, 2020). "Trump campaign official blames Biden lead on 'skewed' polls". TheHill.
  66. ↑ Otterbein, Holly. "Trump campaign stalls in Pennsylvania". POLITICO.
  67. ↑ Enten, Harry (August 30, 2020). "Analysis: Trump continues to break the polling". CNN. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  68. ↑ Siders, David (July 4, 2020). "Biden builds lead as Trump goes from trailing to flailing". Politico. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  69. ↑ Gambino, Lauren (July 26, 2020). "Biden holds daunting lead over Trump as US election enters final stretch". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  70. ↑ Schulte, Gabriela (August 5, 2020). "Poll: Biden leads Trump by 3 points nationally". The Hill. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  71. ↑ Steinhauser, Paul (August 17, 2020). "Trump narrows gap with Biden, new poll shows". Fox News. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  72. ↑ Cohen, Max (August 13, 2020). "Poll: Biden maintains clear lead over Trump nationally". Politico. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  73. ↑ Elbeshbishi, Sarah (August 16, 2020). "Joe Biden leading President Trump nationally ahead of DNC, RNC, poll finds". USA Today. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  74. ↑ Balz, Dan; Clement, Scott; Guskin, Emily (August 17, 2020). "Post-ABC poll shows Biden, Harris hold double-digit lead over Trump, Pence". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  75. ↑ Richardson, Seth A. (September 1, 2020). "Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in tracking poll of Ohio likely voters". Cleveland.com. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  76. ↑ Steinhauser, Paul (September 3, 2020). "Biden-Trump race tightening in the biggest battleground: Poll". Fox News. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  77. ↑ Balz, Dan; Guskin, Emily (September 26, 2020). "Post-ABC poll: Biden maintains lead over Trump nationally in stable presidential race". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 27, 2020.

Other websites

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Media related to Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2020 at Wikimedia Commons