Fact Check

Did Biden Break Obama's Popular Vote Record?

Barack Obama received 69,498,516 votes in the 2008 U.S. presidential contest.

Published Nov 4, 2020

Updated Nov 25, 2020
US Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama and running mate Delaware Senator Joe Biden wave during a rally in Springfield, Illinois, on August 23, 2008.   AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images) (Emmanuel Dunand / Staff / Getty Images)
Image Via Emmanuel Dunand / Staff / Getty Images
Claim:
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden broke the record for most votes cast in a presidential election, surpassing a record set by Barack Obama in 2008.

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As reported by the Federal Election Commission, former U.S. President Barack Obama received 69,498,518 votes in the 2008 presidential election.

That record number was not surpassed in either the 2012 or 2016 presidential contests.

At the time of this update (Nov. 25, 2020), President-elect Joe Biden has received over 80 million votes in the 2020 presidential election. Incumbent President Donald Trump has received over 73 million votes. Though these numbers remain unofficial until each state certifies its count, Biden has comfortably broken the popular vote record set by Obama -- as has Trump, though Biden now holds the record for winning the most popular votes in a U.S. presidential election.

Updates

Update [Nov. 25, 2020]: Updated with current popular vote tally as of this date, and to note that Trump, too, has broken Obama's record.

Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime.

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