FACT CHECK: Trump Claims No Presidential Candidate ‘Has Ever Won Both Florida And Ohio And Lost’ The Election
President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that no presidential candidate who won both Ohio and Florida had ever lost the election.
No candidate has ever won both Florida and Ohio and lost. I won them both, by a lot! #SupremeCourt
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2020
Verdict: False
Richard Nixon lost his 1960 presidential bid to John F. Kennedy despite winning both Florida and Ohio.
Fact Check:
Trump made the claim in a Dec. 9 tweet, saying, “No candidate has ever won both Florida and Ohio and lost. I won them both, by a lot! #Supreme Court.” The tweet, which has been retweeted over 39,000 times as of press time, is inaccurate.
Nixon, who would later serve as president from 1969 to 1974, won the two states in 1960 but ultimately lost the election to Kennedy, Newsweek reported. In the 1960 presidential election, Kennedy won 303 electoral votes, while Nixon won 219, according to the National Archives. (RELATED: Viral Video Falsely Claims To Show A Technician Manipulating Voting Data In Georgia)
Trump is the first presidential candidate since Nixon in 1960 to win both Ohio and Florida but still lose the election, according to electoral maps from 270 to Win. 2020 presidential election results from NBC News show President-elect Joe Biden receiving 306 electoral votes and Trump receiving 232.
The president has made numerous baseless claims about widespread voter fraud, despite Attorney General William Barr saying in early December that the Justice Department has found no evidence widespread fraud occurred, according to The Associated Press. In a joint statement, the Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council Executive Committee and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council also said there is “no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”
Electoral College electors are set to cast their votes on Dec. 14, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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