2020 United States Presidential Election (National Divorce)

The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Incumbent President Donald Trump and incumbent Vice President Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of Senator Bernie Sanders and Representive Val Demings, an another upset victory. Before election night, several forecasts and polls predicted Trump would lose. Trump received the highest popular vote total of an incumbent president in American History, beating George W. Bush's record. Bernie Sanders received the highest popular vote total for a challenger to an incumbent president. The election took place against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and related recession. The election saw the highest voter turnout by percentage since 1900.

The central issues of the election included the public health and economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; civil unrest in reaction to the police murder of George Floyd and others; the Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett; and the future of the Affordable Care Act. A significant number of ballots were submitted by mail, which was controversally subject to significant legal challenges from the Trump campaign. After the Supreme Court's Decision in Pennsylvania Democratic Party v. Boockvar, states were not allowed to grant any deadline extensions for mail-in ballots or count any ballots that were not postmarked, or signature verified. Several Democrats alleged these actions led to significant voter suppression, especially in left-leaning areas.

On election day, Trump again over-performed the polls, almost all of which predicted he would lose the election. Trump again won the critical rust belt states of Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania. He also became the first Republican since 1972 to win the state of Minnesota. Additionally, he flipped the states of New Hampshire and Nevada. Trump's over-performance nationwide was attirbuted to the unpopularity of Sanders' Democratic Socialist ideas. Sanders' views also led to a significant rightward shift among Hispanic voters.

Primaries
President Trump faced little opposition to the Republican nomination. Prominent critics of Trump, such as Senator Mitt Romney and former Senator Jeff Flake, declined to challenge Trump. Former Governor Bill Weld and former congressman Joe Walsh were the two most prominent candidates, but both had little support.

Democratic Party
Bernie Sanders became the presumptive nominee on June 5, 2020, when he secured enough delegates to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. He was officially nominated on July 14.

COVID-19 and health care
The COVID-19 Pandemic had significantly impacted almost every aspect of American life and was one of the primary issues in the 2020 Election. By Fall of 2020, almost every state had mask mandates in place to combat the spread of the virus. Cases remained stagnant throughout the election cycle, but health experts urged the public to stay aware of the pandemic.

President Trump touted his efforts to combat the virus, claiming he was successful in preventing thousands of deaths through working with State and Local Governments. Trump also boosted the strong economic recovery seen that summer, and promised to stimulate the economy during his second term.