Biden officially tops 80 million votes, beating Obama's record by 10 million

(Image credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images)

published 25 November 2020

President-elect Joe Biden won more than 80 million votes in the 2020 election, the ongoing vote count confirmed late Tuesday, meaning he beat the previous record by more than 10 million votes. That previous record was set by President Barack Obama, Biden's running mate, in 2008; Obama did not top 70 million in 2012, nor did popular-vote winner Hillary Clinton in 2016. President Trump did beat Obama's record this year, winning at least 73.9 million votes, but he trails Biden by more than 6 million votes and, unlike in 2016, he also lost in the Electoral College.

Biden currently has 51 percent of the vote, versus 47.1 percent for Trump, making him also the first president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 to unseat a sitting president with more than 51 percent. (Ronald Reagan won a landslide in the Electoral College in 1980 but got only 50.7 percent.) The U.S. electorate turned out in large numbers this year, and there were also more Americans eligible to vote, USA Today notes.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.