Former President Donald Trump continues to make false claims about winning the state of Georgia in the 2020 election, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Over the weekend, Trump posted on social media asserting that he had shockingly “LOST” Georgia, despite winning nearby states like Alabama and South Carolina in what he called “Record Setting Landslides.” However, these claims are completely unsubstantiated.
In reality, Trump lost Georgia by 11,779 votes, a significant margin that he has been unwilling to accept. His assertion that he won by large margins in South Carolina and Alabama is also false. Previous candidates have achieved much larger victories in both states than Trump did in 2020. Furthermore, Trump himself won each state by larger margins in 2016 than in 2020, contradicting his argument that his performance in Georgia was an anomaly.
Political science professor Audrey Haynes from the University of Georgia debunked Trump’s reasoning, saying that assuming neighboring states would produce the same outcome is simplistic and faulty. States have distinct social, economic, and political differences that influence voting habits.
Additionally, it is important to note that there have been divergences in election results between neighboring states before. For example, Trump lost Minnesota by a significant margin in 2020 but won North Dakota by a large margin. These variations reflect the inherent differences between states rather than any nefarious activities.
Turning to Trump’s claims of “Record Setting Landslides” in South Carolina and Alabama, the data proves otherwise. Trump won South Carolina by about 11.7 percentage points in 2020, a decline from his 2016 margin. However, historical records show that previous candidates had achieved much larger victories in the state. Similarly, Trump’s margin of victory in Alabama in 2020 was smaller than victories achieved by previous candidates, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and George W. Bush.
In conclusion, Trump’s claims of winning Georgia and achieving record-setting victories in neighboring states have no basis in reality. There is no evidence of fraud significant enough to change the outcome of the 2020 election, and the decline in Trump’s Georgia margin can be attributed to various factors such as demographic changes and political trends. It is time for Trump to accept the truth of the election results and move on.