'Nothing at all historic': Mehdi Hasan debunks false claim that Trump won by a 'landslide'

04 December 2024

After President-elect Donald Trump narrowly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the United States' 2024 election, MAGA Republicans were quick to hail the victory as "historic" and claim that he had won by a "landslide."

But according to the Cook Political Report, Trump won the popular vote by roughly 1.4 or 1.5 percent — which is far from a "landslide" or a "blowout."

Some MAGA Republicans have even claimed that Trump enjoyed the biggest win of a GOP presidential candidate in more than 100 years, which ignores President Ronald Reagan's reelection victory of 1984. That year, Reagan defeated the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Walter Mondale, by 18 percent in the popular vote and won 525 electoral votes. In contrast, Trump, according to Cook, won 312 electoral votes compared to 226 for Harris.

Reagan in 1980 and 1984 and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 were blowouts; 2024, however, was a close election.

In a biting op-ed published by The Guardian on December 3, progressive journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan slams MAGA Republicans' 2024 "landslide" claims as a "post-election lie" that is easily debunked.

"Yes, Trump won the popular vote and the Electoral College," Hasan explains. "Yes, Republicans won the Senate and the House. But, contrary to both Republican talking points and breathless headlines and hot takes from leading media outlets ('resounding,' 'rout,' 'runaway win'), there was really nothing at all historic or huge about the margin of victory. Repeat after me: there was no 'landslide.'"

Hasan continues, "There was no 'blowout.' There was no 'sweeping' mandate given to Trump by the electorate. The numbers don't lie."

The former MSNBC host notes that Trump's "miniscule" victory in the popular vote was, according to the New York Times, "smaller than that of every winning president since 1888 other than two: John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Richard M. Nixon in 1968."

Hasan argues, "We actually know what a landslide in the popular vote looks like: the Democrat Lyndon Johnson defeated the Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964 by an enormous margin of 22.6 percentage points!.... We actually know what a landslide win in the Electoral College looks like: the Republican Ronald Reagan won reelection with a whopping 525 Electoral College votes in 1984!.... Repeat after me: there was nothing unique or unprecedented about the election result last month."

Hasan continues, "Republicans may feel they won a huge victory over the Democrats. And Trump may feel his election win was historic. But, to borrow a line from the right, the facts don't care about their feelings."

Mehdi Hasan's full op-ed for The Guardian is available at this link.

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