The ‘Landslide’ That Wasn’t: Trump and Allies Pump Up His Narrow Victory

The New York Times ^ | Nov. 22, 2024Updated 9:13 a.m. ET | Peter Baker

[E. Pluribus Unum]

On the night he won a second term, President-elect Donald J. Trump rejoiced in the moment. “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” he boasted. In the two weeks since, his campaign has repeatedly heralded his “landslide,” even to market Trump merchandise like the “Official Trump Victory Glass.”

But by traditional numeric measures, Mr. Trump’s victory was neither unprecedented nor a landslide. In fact, he prevailed with one of the smallest margins of victory in the popular vote since the 19th century and generated little of the coattails of a true landslide.

The disconnect goes beyond predictable Trumpian braggadocio. The incoming president and his team are trying to cement the impression of a “resounding margin,” as one aide called it, to make Mr. Trump seem more popular than he is and strengthen his hand in forcing through his agenda in the months to come.

The collapse of Matt Gaetz’s prospective nomination for attorney general on Thursday demonstrated the challenges for Mr. Trump in forcing a Republican Congress to defer to his more provocative ideas. While Mr. Gaetz, a former Republican congressman from Florida, denied allegations of attending sex and drug parties and having sex with an underage girl, they proved too much even for Republicans eager to stay in Mr. Trump’s good graces.

With some votes still being counted, the tally used by The New York Times showed Mr. Trump winning the popular vote with 49.997 percent as of Thursday night, and he appears likely to fall below that once the final results are in, meaning he would not capture a majority. Another count used by CNN and other outlets shows him winning 49.9 percent. By either reckoning, his margin over Vice President Kamala Harris was about 1.6 percentage points, the...

[No name given]

That’s right.

[twyn1]

This is just the latest “talking point” for the Mockingbirds ...

[mbrfl]

Maybe not a landslide by the traditional metrics, but if you also look at the trends, it certainly represents a major shift in sentiment towards Trump. All the battlegrounds (including Nevada, which many had stopped even calling it a battle ground state). And 5 or 6 solidly blue states moved within striking distance. Also, the demographic trends represent an existential threat to the Democrats, if Republicans are smart enough to build on them.

[Sequoyah101]

NYT and all the rest of the related gang need a one way ticket to hell. They don’t merit the time of day.

[Maris Crane]

Let’s let Pete live in his sorry, little bubble world.

MAGA!

[US_MilitaryRules]

Yes, all the kooks in commiefornia and add in all the fraud here to.

[Vaquero]

You are denigrating germs