'He does not have a mandate!' Harris slams Trump, repeats claim 2024 was 'closest' election

HOUSTON, TEXAS: Kamala Harris stirred debate online after calling the 2024 election the “closest” of the 21st century, despite data showing otherwise, during her ‘107 Days’ book tour stop in Houston.

Later in the event, she criticized President Donald Trump, declaring he “doesn’t have a mandate.” Harris has repeated this claim at other stops, including Howard University and in an MSNBC interview.

Kamala Harris discusses 2024 election during book tour

On October 4, Kamala Harris energized the 2,650-seat audience at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts while promoting her new book, ‘107 Days.’ She highlighted her “unprecedented” 3.5-month campaign against Donald Trump, whom she said “had been running for 10 years.”

Harris then shouted to the crowd, “Here’s the other thing that is quite unprecedented — it was the tightest, closest presidential election in the 21st Century. He does not have a mandate! That is not a mandate! That is not a mandate!"

One attendee yelled, “And he never did!” Harris laughed and noted that moderator Carlos Eduardo Espina, a community organizer and immigrant rights activist, stood up as well.

She added, "No one election or individual or circumstance can take that from you. It is the light that we each carry inside of us, it is the light that we see in each other… it is the light that carries us, particularly right now, during the darkest of times. And we cannot lose sight of that or let that light be extinguished.”

Harris has pushed this disputed claim throughout her book tour. She repeated it during a speech at Howard University on September 27 and again in a recent MSNBC interview, even though data shows Trump’s 2024 victory gave him the widest Electoral College margin since 2012.

Facts behind Kamala Harris’s claim

While Kamala Harris continues to repeat the false claim that the 2024 election was the closest of the 21st century, the facts tell a different story.

Data clearly shows that Harris did not lose the closest race by any standard. In fact, Donald Trump defeated her in the Electoral College by a margin of 312 to 226, the widest margin in any presidential election since 2012.

Harris also didn’t come close in the popular vote. By comparison, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016 despite losing the election, placing her closer than Harris by that metric.

Harris also fell short when it comes to the Electoral College tipping point, a measure of how narrowly a candidate misses the minimum number of states needed to win. Her performance lagged behind that of John Kerry in 2004, Clinton in 2016, and Trump in 2020.

Internet reacts Kamala Harris's repeated claim

A video of Kamala Harris repeating false claim went viral, amassing over 1.7 million views and drawing thousands of comments, many of which slammed and mocked her repeated statements.

One user wrote, "Says the woman who has never won a presidential primary. Loser before she even started the race."

A commenter said, "Closest of the century? 2000 says hi. He won EC 312–226 and the PV by ~1.6%. Not a landslide, not a tie....just a win you can’t wish away."

An X user tweeted, "Not even close."

One more disagreed, "Kamala seems to be channeling her inner Hillary. Also, her electoral math is terrible."

One asked, "Tightest and closest presidential election? I beg to differ!"

A user mocked, "😂 Volume: 100% Facts: 50% Drama: 300% 😭🎭"

A disappointed person said, "How can she say that? She lost by many electoral votes and over 4 million popular votes. Does she not remember Gore v. Bush in 2000? That was closer than 2024. 🤦🏼"

This article contains remarks made on the internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.