# 2020 United States presidential election

The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and incumbent U.S. senator from California Kamala Harris defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence. Biden won the election and was inaugurated January 20, 2021. The election was known for taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest following the killing of George Floyd. Afterwards Trump refused to concede defeat and alleged electoral fraud, carrying out a series of unsuccessful lawsuits to overturn the election. This culminated with the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.

## Quotes

* You know, one of the things that continues to bother us in the way in which the moderators don’t even bring up an issue that, before COVID-19, was impacting 43% of this nation. A hundred forty million people, before COVID, were poor and low-wealth, and 62 million people working for less than a living wage. And since COVID, we know that millions have been added to the poverty and low-wealth numbers. We’re well over 50% because of the new poor. We know we had 87 million people before COVID that were either uninsured or underinsured, and now some 20 million people have been added because of people who have lost their insurance because they’ve lost their jobs. Forty percent of the jobs that make $40,000 a year have been lost.
** Rev. William Barber II quoted in Rev. William Barber: Millions Are Struggling. So Why Do the Debates Ignore Poverty?, DemocracyNow, (8 October 2020)
* North Carolina was the scene of the crime of the worst voter suppression, after the case out of Alabama and when the Supreme Court gutted Section 5. And Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that it’s like putting away your umbrella — the Shelby case, it was — putting away your umbrella in a rainstorm. And in North Carolina, Amy, when it was done, the Republicans there said, "Now that the problem has — the headache has been removed, we can do what we want to." And guess what. Everything Pence just said, we heard in 2013. And they tried to roll back every progressive way of voting. And they actually went to the books and looked at how did it benefit Black and Brown people and young people, and those were the rules they tried to roll back. And the court said it was surgical — surgical racism. And what I saw in North Carolina, what we defeated in North Carolina, what we filed suit against in North Carolina, is now what Trump and Pence are talking about doing on the national level: surgical racism with surgical precision.
** Rev. William Barber II in Rev. William Barber on Voter Suppression: Republicans Know They Can’t Win If Everyone Casts a Ballot', Democracy Now!, (8 October 2020)
* We’re telling people, vote by absentee ballot. In North Carolina, where we have 16 days of early voting, vote early. And if you vote on Election Day, then put your shield on, put your mask on, put your gloves on. Pack you a lunch. Get you a folding chair. Put some water in that lunch bag and vote. And if they want to come watch us vote, let them watch millions of people, because we’re not scared. We’re not giving away this democracy. Let them come and watch. And then stop saying Trump won the last time. He was elected by the Electoral College because of 80,000 votes.
** Rev. William Barber II in Rev. William Barber on Voter Suppression: Republicans Know They Can’t Win If Everyone Casts a Ballot', Democracy Now!, (8 October 2020)
* While we can't guarantee that candidates will stick to their campaign promises, we still must ask this vital question: What prospects for peace might each of them bring to the White House? In 1989, at the end of the Cold War, former Pentagon officials Robert McNamara and Larry Korb told the Senate Budget Committee that the U.S. military budget could safely be cut by 50% over the next 10 years... Presidential campaigns are key moments for raising these issues. We are greatly encouraged by Tulsi Gabbard's courageous decision to place solving the crisis of war and militarism at the heart of her presidential campaign. We thank Bernie Sanders for voting against the obscenely bloated military budget year after year, and for identifying the military-industrial complex as one of the most powerful interest groups that his political revolution must confront. We applaud Elizabeth Warren for condemning "the stranglehold of defense contractors on our military policy." And we welcome Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang and other original voices to this debate.
** Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J S Davies War and Peace and the 2020 Presidential Candidates, Common Dreams (27 March 2019)
* We need to hear a much more vigorous debate about war and peace in this campaign, with more specific plans from all the candidates. This vicious cycle of U.S. wars, militarism and runaway military spending drains our resources, corrupts our national priorities and undermines international cooperation, including on the existential dangers of climate change and nuclear weapons proliferation, which no country can solve on its own... We are calling for this debate most of all because we mourn the millions of people being killed by our country's wars and we want the killing to stop. If you have other priorities, we understand and respect that. But unless and until we address militarism and all the money it sucks out of our national coffers, it may well prove impossible to solve the other very serious problems facing the United States and the world in the 21st century.
** Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J S Davies War and Peace and the 2020 Presidential Candidates, Common Dreams (27 March 2019)
* MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country. They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6—brutally attacking law enforcement—not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots. And they see their MAGA failure to stop a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election as preparation for the 2022 and 2024 elections. They tried everything last time to nullify the votes of 81 million people. This time, they're determined to succeed in thwarting the will of the people. That's why respected conservatives, like Federal Circuit Court Judge Michael Luttig, has called Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans, quote, a "clear and present danger" to our democracy.
** Joe Biden, Address on United States Democracy in Philadelphia, 1 September 2022
* Trump spoke with Xi Jinping by phone on June 18, ahead of 2019's Osaka G20 summit, when they would next meet. Trump began by telling Xi he missed him and then said that the most popular thing he had ever been involved with was making a trade deal with China, which would be a big plus politically. They agreed their economic teams could continue meeting. The G20 bilateral arrived, and during the usual media mayhem at the start, Trump said, "we've become friends. My trip to Beijing with my family was one of the most incredible of my life." With the press gone, Xi said this is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. He said that some (unnamed) political figures in the United States were making erroneous judgments by calling for a new cold war, this time between China and the United States. Whether Xi meant to finger the Democrats, or some of us sitting on the US side of the table, I don't know, but Trump immediately assumed Xi meant the Democrats. Trump said approvingly that there was great hostility among the Democrats. He then, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming US presidential election, alluding to China's economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome. I would print Trump's exact words, but the government's prepublication review process has decided otherwise.
** John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened, Simon & Schuster, 2020, p. 202 . ISBN 978-1-9821-4805-8.
* Rev. William Barber says the 2020 election debates have steadfastly ignored the subject of poverty, even though it affected almost half the United States population before the COVID-19 pandemic and millions more people are struggling since then.
** Democracy Now! in Rev. William Barber: Millions Are Struggling. So Why Do the Debates Ignore Poverty?, DemocracyNow, (8 October 2020)
* During Wednesday’s debate, Vice President Mike Pence refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if Biden wins the election. Instead, he referenced the Trump administration’s legal efforts to restrict mail-in voting. Rev. William Barber says the Republican Party’s voter suppression efforts ahead of the November election, aimed primarily at Black and Brown voters, amount to “surgical racism with surgical precision.” The Poor People’s Campaign, of which Barber is co-chair, is leading a major voter mobilization effort to combat voter disenfranchisement. “They know they cannot win if everybody votes. They are terribly afraid of poor and low-wealth Black and Brown people voting,” he says.
** Democracy Now! in Rev. William Barber on Voter Suppression: Republicans Know They Can’t Win If Everyone Casts a Ballot', Democracy Now!, (8 October 2020)
* ...We live in a society where some people have a great deal of power, and most people have very little. And that this works out well for the few and not so well for the many. This plays out in the political realm with the few using their power to support candidates who would maintain that power. In the past..[news] outlets told us very little about which candidates were beholden to whose interests... ensuring that few people outside the donor class were aware of who was doing the donating. A funny thing happened in the 21st century: The development of digital technologies made it much cheaper to create and distribute information... this ability allows us to have conversations about politics that we’ve always needed and never have had until now... These discussions of candidates’ financial and policy histories can look like negativity—because it’s seldom good news when a line can be drawn between where politicians gets their resources and how they do their jobs. But the possibility of picking nominees based on who can best serve the interests of voters rather than donors is really one of the most positive developments in modern politics.
** FAIR Learning the Downsides of Candidates Is a Big Upside of Modern Media, Jim Naureckas, (27 March 2019)
* The governments that have been negligent from the beginning [...] are afraid of demonstrating their ineptitude in the face of such a health crisis. At the last minute, Trump declared a "national emergency" and agreed with the Democrats in Congress on a special package for sick leave and rapid testing. If he appears incompetent in the face of a crisis and thousands of people die, he could lose the U.S. presidency, even to Biden.
** Trotskyist Fraction – Fourth International, Coronavirus and the Healthcare Crisis: Our Lives Are Worth More than Their Profits! (March 14, 2020), Left Voice.
* Make America Rake Again, Lawn And Order!
** $5-Four Seasons Total Landscaping-stickers sold by the business that hosted Rudy Giuliani's press conference about claims of voter fraud published November 9, 2020
* We are representing President Trump and the Trump campaign... this pattern of fraud repeats itself in several states.. voter fraud concentrated in big cities controlled by democrats that have a long history of corruption...
** Rudy Giuliani introducing the Trump legal team Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and others on Lawyers for President Donald Trump's campaign hold press conference an hour-and-a-half video posted to youtube
* The governments that have been negligent from the beginning [...] are afraid of demonstrating their ineptitude in the face of such a health crisis. At the last minute, Trump declared a "national emergency" and agreed with the Democrats in Congress on a special package for sick leave and rapid testing. If he appears incompetent in the face of a crisis and thousands of people die, he could lose the U.S. presidency, even to Biden.
** Trotskyist Fraction – Fourth International, Coronavirus and the Healthcare Crisis: Our Lives Are Worth More than Their Profits! (March 14, 2020), Left Voice.
* Elections that have been held with mail have found substantial fraud and coercion... For example, we indicted someone in Texas, 1,700 ballots collected, he — from people who could vote, he made them out and voted for the person he wanted to. OK?
** United States Attorney General William Barr
* Probably the most depressing thought is that Democrats are going to learn all the wrong lessons from this election, because the polls really do show Biden is up in a crushing way now. The reason for that is, very simply, Trump failed miserably on Covid-19, 209,000 Americans are dead as of the recording of this video, and the economy is a mess! So you have a terrible economy and you have over 200,000 deaths from a pandemic, and you have general chaos. So, the election is a referendum on Trump and on those things, and a ham sandwich could beat Trump, but the lesson that the Democrats are going to take away is, 'Oh, Joe Biden is awesome, which means the establishment is awesome, which means the status quo is awesome, which means neoliberal corporatism is awesome, which means business as usual is awesome, which means let's continue with this formula for decades.'
** Kyle Kulinski: Biden's Black Outreach = A Bunch of Celebrity Endorsements (October 6, 2020)
* Six weeks ago, Americans voted in this year’s general election. The legal and constitutional processes have continued to play out. Yesterday, electors met in all 50 states. So, as of this morning, our country officially has a President-elect and a Vice President-elect. Many millions of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result. But our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January the 20th. The Electoral College has spoken. So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The President-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He has devoted himself to public service for many years. I also congratulate the Vice President-elect, our colleague from California, Senator Harris. Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female Vice President-elect for the first time. I look forward to finishing out the next 36 days strong with President Trump. Our nation needs us to add another bipartisan chapter to this record of achievement.
** Mitch McConnell, "The Electoral College has Spoken," (15 December 2020), as quoted in Vital Speeches of the Day, 87(2), pp. 28–29.
* There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration
** Mike Pompeo according to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assures smooth transition — to 2nd Trump presidency published November 10, 2020
* American Jews living in Israel say, 'Hey, the guy's OK' — I think it does have some kind of influence on voters, including their relatives in the U.S.
** Mitchell Barak, an Israeli American pollster in Highly Motivated': In Israel, U.S. Voters Lean Toward Trump published November 3, 2020
* AZ update: apparently, the use of sharpie pens in GOP precincts is causing ballots to be invalidated. Could be huge numbers of mostly Trump supporters
** American Conservative Union Chair Matt Schlapp via tweet according to Truth Tracker: Were Trump ballots marked with sharpies disqualified in Arizona? published November 4, 2020
* I don’t see campaigning on the list. Anything that does not have to be done in person and anything not related to his job as vice president would not be considered essential... Pence could be putting people at risk
** Dr. w:Joshua Sharfstein in Health experts question Pence campaigning as essential work October 25, 2020
* [listeners need not fear dying from COVID-19] You know the bottom line, though? You're gonna get better. You're gonna get better. [coronavirus fatalities are] WAY DOWN,[because] Therapeutics working!
** President Trump At a campaign ralley on October 29, 2020 and on twitter October 30, 2020 according to Despite reality, Trump Jr says COVID numbers are 'almost nothing'
* I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!
** President Trump viaTwitter posted November 7, 2020
* There is no loss from him [Biden] getting the briefings and to be able to do that and if that's not occuring by Friday I will step in as well, and to be able to push and to say this needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election ... people can be ready for that actual task
** Republican senator, James Lankford, according to GOP senator says Biden should get access to intelligence briefings published Wednesday November 11, 2020
* Well, certainly, here in Georgia, we have upwards of 200 open investigations. We're in the courts right now. We have heard and seen too much. We need to get to the bottom of it.
* Well, these cases haven't been heard. They deserve to be heard. We need to make sure that we get to the bottom of this because the integrity of voting is at the core of our democracy. We have to protect that. We have to have people who are willing to fight for it and defend it, and that's what I'm looking at right now.
** Kelly Loeffler according to Sen. Loeffler: Warnock’s values are ‘out of step with Georgia aired January 3, 2020
* this case was never about fraud—it was about undermining the People’s faith in our democracy and debasing the judicial process to do so
** Judge Linda Parker in "The Sanctioning of Trump’s Lawyers Is Exactly What Is Supposed to Happen" published (August 29, 2021)
* Having failed to make even a plausible case of widespread fraud or conspiracy before any court of law, the President has now resorted to overt pressure on state and local officials to subvert the will of the people and overturn the election. It is difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American President.
** Mitt Romney via tweet on November 19, 2020
* The only way he Biden got 80 million votes is through fraud
** President Trump in Trump Thanksgiving with the military video teleconference posted on Thanksgiving day 2020
* They’re doing recounts. And even in the recount, they found thousands of votes that were off. ..you will find tens of thousands of false ballots, fraud- — forged ballots. You’ll see it all over... I think it was six hundred-and-some-odd thousand — 687,000 fraudulent votes cast in Pennsylvania.
** President Trump in by President Trump During Thanksgiving Video Teleconference with Members of the Military Issued on: November 27, 2020
* The number of ballots that our Campaign is challenging in the Pennsylvania case is FAR LARGER than the 81,000 vote margin. It’s not even close. Fraud and illegality ARE a big part of the case. Documents being completed. We will appeal!
** President Trump via Twitter posted November 28, 2020
* [Chris Krebs, who said Donald Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden was not subject to voter fraud, should be] taken out at dawn and shot
** Joe DiGenova, a Trump campaign lawyer, according to Trump lawyer: ex-election security chief Krebs should be 'taken out and shot' published December 1, 2020
* It's all gone too far... it has to stop. Mr President you have not condemned this action or this language, Senators, you have not condemned this language or this action. This has to stop. We need you to step up...
* Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting implementation manager, talking about what Joe DiGenova said according to Georgia election official to Trump: Condemn “potential acts of violence” on youtube Dec 1, 2020
* To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election
** Bill Barr according to Trump ally Barr says officials found no evidence of fraud that would change U.S. election result published December 1, 2020
* Remember last election? Things got completely unhinged! How 'bout a normal one this time? 'Cause I think coups are kind of cringe!
** "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Deja Vu (But Worse)," 28 June 2024

## See also

* Joe Biden
* Kamala Harris
* Donald Trump
* Mike Pence
* 2021 storming of the United States Capitol

## External links

Encyclopedic article on 2020 United States presidential election on Wikipedia