Winning more counties doesn’t translate to an election win for Trump

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Winning more counties doesn’t translate to an election win for Trump

By ALI SWENSON

CLAIM: If you take away the states in question in the 2020 election, Trump won 25 states and Biden won 16. And Trump won 2496 counties to Biden’s 477, showing that Trump won 84% of America and Biden won 16%.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: Missing context. There are no states in question at this point. States have certified their election results and electors have sent their votes to Congress showing President-elect Joe Biden won. This post also perpetuates the common misconception that winning a majority of counties indicates a nationwide election win. Land doesn’t vote — people do. Trump won many of the nation’s less populous counties, while Biden carried some of the most populous counties, securing more votes overall.

THE FACTS: President-elect Joe Biden beat President Donald Trump in November’s election with an electoral college margin of 306 to 232 votes and a popular vote margin of about 7 million. Official electors in each state cast their votes earlier this month, affirming Biden’s win.

But a post retweeted by the president on Monday circulated the misleading claim that Trump winning more counties than Biden means he “won” a majority of America.

“America is 50 states,” the tweet read. “Minus the states in question Trump won 25, Biden won 16. Those states house 2974 counties. Even with the ‘votes in question’ Trump won 2496, Biden on 477. Trump won 84% of America, Biden ‘won’ 16%.”

That claim misses the mark. It’s true that Trump won more counties than Biden in 2020. According to Associated Press data, Trump won 2,586 counties to Biden’s 527. But the pathway to electoral victory depends on the number of votes a candidate wins in a state, not on the number of counties won.

Counties across the United States vary dramatically in size, from populations of a few hundred people to several million. Trump won many smaller counties this year, while Biden pulled majorities in some of the nation’s largest counties, such as Los Angeles County in California and Maricopa County in Arizona.

The post also wrongly suggests that states are still “in question” in the 2020 election, a claim easily refuted by state certifications and official Electoral College votes that have already been cast.

Election officials in battleground states such as Georgia, Michigan and Arizona have repeatedly confirmed the accuracy of their election results and the absence of significant fraud or irregularities.

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This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.