“With over 74 million votes, over, think of that, more than, I got more votes than any sitting president in history. 11 million more votes -- Than we got in 2016. And we thought that if we could get 68 million, 67 million, that would be the end. All of our great, brilliant, geniuses said, uh, you'd win if you get 67 or 68, it's over. We got 74 million plus, and they're trying to convince us that we lost. We didn't lose.”
— Campaign rally, 12/05/2020
When the counting was finished, Trump had received 74 million votes, not 75 million as he often claims — but Biden earned more than 81 million. That’s a margin of 4.5 percentage points. Biden’s margin in the popular vote is larger than Barack Obama’s victory in 2012 and George W. Bush’s victory in 2004. Trump ignores the fact that more Americans voted in the 2020 election — two-thirds of the voting eligible population — than in any other in 120 years. A big reason is Trump himself. Trump was the most polarizing president in modern political history, inspiring fierce loyalty from Republicans and deep hostility from Democrats. In 2016, a lot of voters were indifferent about both Trump and his opponent, Hillary Clinton. After the past four years, few Americans don't have strongly held opinions about Trump, helping power record turnout for his 2020 general-election opponent.