He wouldn't have been in office in the first place had there been a higher emphasis on the popular vote in his first election.
He also would be less likely to be in office the second time had the judicial system of New York State respected the outcome of another democracy - a jury in a criminal trial - and sentenced said man to actual punishment instead of not sentencing him at all.
We don’t know what would have happened in a counterfactual scenario where the popular vote mattered in 2016. Campaigns spend their money trying to turn out voters to win the electoral college, because that’s what counts. That’s especially true of Republicans, whose voters are spread out across rural areas. The smallest PA city Harris visited the last week of the election was Scranton, which has 76,000. In the last week, Trump was in Lilitz PA, which has under 10,000 people. Butler PA has 13,500.
In 2024, Trump made a deliberate play for the popular vote, holding rallies in California and New York City. And there was a major swing in his direction in both states. E.g. Biden won California by 29 points. Harris won California by only 20 points. Trump also targeted immigrant communities in blue states. Biden won foreign born voters by 26 points. Trump won them by 1 point. That swing alone accounts for half the 2020-2024 swing.
It came out later that the internal polling available to both campaigns had Trump ahead the entire time. So he likely felt comfortable taking a risk and spending time in California and New York. But you’ll notice that he parked his surrogates in places like Pennsylvania the entire time. The popular vote has marketing value but it doesn’t count and nobody is trying to win it.
> We don’t know what would have happened in a counterfactual scenario where the popular vote mattered in 2016
You can’t brag about his popular vote for one election then disregard it for another. He lost if by a lot more in 2016 than he won it by in 2024. Both elections were decided by the electoral college and the popular votes we are comparing both happened in that context. 2.7% margin vs. 0.5% is a stark difference.
Republicans had the stones to call his victory margin “a mandate” yet they would never say Hillary Clinton had one. You’re playing funny with numbers here.
My post was responding to someone who expressed skepticism in U.S. elections. I wasn’t “bragging” about anything, I was pointing out that elections work. I mentioned the popular vote only to preempt a counterpoint from people who don’t like the EC.
> and won the popular vote to go back into office.
By the smallest margin since 1968 (one of the smallest in history) with the aid of a rough economy he helped create but got no blame for and a terribly mismanaged Democratic primary/election.