WASHINGTON Donald Trump falsely boasted during his campaign last fall that hed won Texas by a landslide in 2016, and on Saturday night, he told another whopper about his popularity in Texas this time about his performance in the 2020 campaign.<\/p>\n
We won Texas by a lot, he claimed at a North Carolina GOP dinner.<\/p>\n
Thats revisionist history, pure and simple.<\/p>\n
Trump carried Texas in November by a margin of just 5.6 percentage points even worse than his 9-point margin in Texas over Hillary Clinton four years earlier.<\/p>\n
Only two GOP nominees have won Texas by a smaller margin since 1976, when President Gerald Ford lost the state and the White House to Democrat Jimmy Carter, 51-48.<\/p>\n
Trump also lagged other Republicans running statewide in November, notably Sen. John Cornyn, who topped MJ Hegar by 9.6 points. Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright won by nearly as much.<\/p>\n
So, its not as though Trump had coattails in Texas to brag about last fall, either.<\/p>\n
His Texas margin of victory did seem like a lot compared with early July polls, which showed a 5-point deficit. But that was Joe Bidens high point in Texas and he effectively abandoned the state to focus elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Texas had not been a battleground in decades before Trumps anemic showing in 2016.<\/p>\n
The single-digit victory margin put a scare into Republicans, who have no viable path to the White House without Texas because of Democratic dominance in California and New York.<\/p>\n
Democrats smelled opportunity for the 2018 midterms, when Beto ORourke held Sen. Ted Cruz below 51%, the worst showing for any statewide Republican nominee since 1994.<\/p>\n
As for the purported landslide over Clinton in 2016, Trump occasionally liked to make that claim, as he did while stumping in Ohio six weeks before Election Day last fall.<\/p>\n
Theres no precise definition, but political scientists and campaign experts reserve the term landslide for an overwhelming victory, especially one that exceeds expectations and demoralizes the losing side.<\/p>\n
A 9-point win is a comfortable margin. In 2016, Trump carried battlegrounds Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin by less than 1 point.<\/p>\n
But in Texas, which still hasnt elected a Democrat statewide since 1994, its not a margin for a Republican presidential nominee to brag about.<\/p>\n
Trumps 9-point win over Clinton was 7 points smaller than Mitt Romneys victory margin in Texas four years earlier and the lowest for a Republican nominee since Bob Doles 5-point squeaker in 1996 though both Romney and Dole lost despite the support from deep red Texas.<\/p>\n
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Originally posted here: <\/p>\n
No, Donald Trump didnt win Texas by a lot in 2020; it was among the worst GOP victory margins in decades - The Dallas Morning News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON Donald Trump falsely boasted during his campaign last fall that hed won Texas by a landslide in 2016, and on Saturday night, he told another whopper about his popularity in Texas this time about his performance in the 2020 campaign. Continue reading