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Did Trump win the popular vote? What to know as more votes are counted

Umito November 8, 2024

With ballots still being counted across the country, President-elect Donald Trump is leading the popular vote by millions after winning back the White House.

As of Thursday afternoon, Trump leads Harris by nearly 5 million votes — and if he maintains that lead, he would be the first Republican presidential candidate to do so in two decades. The former president mentioned winning the popular vote in his victory speech following the election results Wednesday, November 6.

“Winning the popular vote was very nice, very nice, I tell you,” Trump said. “It’s a big, big feeling of love.”

How many people voted for Trump in 2024?

Votes are still being counted, but as of Thursday afternoon, Trump had received 72.2 million votes, while Harris came in behind with 68.1 million.

What is the national popular vote?

Once all the votes have been counted, the candidate with the most individual votes in their favor won the popular vote.

The Electoral College determines the winners of presidential elections in the United States, not the national popular vote. Statewide popular votes are used to determine which presidential candidate will receive that state’s allotment of electoral votes, except Nebraska and Maineboth of which allow for the division of voters in the form of “proportional representation”.

Could Trump win the popular vote?

If Trump were to win the popular vote in the 2024 presidential election, it would be the first time he has accomplished this feat in his three general election campaigns.

He lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in 2016 by nearly 2.9 million votes.

President Joe Biden also won the popular vote by a 4-point margin over Trump in 2020, unseating the then-incumbent president.

Biden received more than 81 million votes in the 2020 presidential electionaccording to the Federal Election Commission. It’s just over 51% of the popular vote. Biden holds the record for highest number of votes ever won by an American presidential candidate.