While there were definitely some inspiring outcomes throughout the 2020 election night, many of the outcomes from the vote were frustrating, disturbing or inconclusive. We've identified some of the worst and most disturbing and concerning results from this historic 2020 election.
Affirmative Action remains banned in California
California’s Proposition 16, one of the statewide ballot questions, seems to have been rejected by voters. The proposition sought to overturn California’s ban on Affirmative Action, which was put in place in the 1990s and has negatively impacted Black and Latino enrollment in the state's public colleges and universities. Despite these arguments that banning Affirmative Action has been harmful for many students without providing significant benefits, the ban remains in place.
Oklahoma rejects measure to ease felony sentencing
Oklahomans voted "no" in response to State Question 805, which sought to ease the guidelines for felony sentencing in the state. The question proposed that Oklahoma no longer use past non-violent felony convictions to impose harsher sentences for new felony convictions. By rejecting the proposal, Oklahoma can continue to impose harsher sentences on people with multiple felony convictions, even when their past crimes were not violent in nature. Proponents of the proposed change presented the measure as a way of fighting mass incarceration in the state.
New Republican representatives include a conspiracy theorist
Republicans added some new members to Congress, including a couple of highly questionable characters. Marjorie Taylor Greene won a seat representing northwestern Georgia. Greene gained notoriety during the race for promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory. Followers of the theory believe online posts from someone claiming to be an anonymous Washington insider going by the alias "Q" who claims that Donald Trump is fighting a secret group of Satan-worshipping liberal pedophiles who secretly run the country. No, this is not an exaggeration — this is what people like Greene literally believe.
In addition to pushing the Q conspiracy, Greene has made various racist and bigoted comments and threats against liberals, and she and her supporters allegedly harassed her opponent, Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal, until he dropped out of the race. On the day after the election, Greene was using Twitter to spread falsities – which we will not repost here – that Democrats were attempting to steal the presidential election.
Republicans also elected a guy with very troubling views on race
Meanwhile, Republican Madison Cawthorn was elected to the House from North Carolina. The 25-year-old will be the youngest U.S. Representative in modern American history, a title previously held by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The young conservative has also been called the Republican equivalent of Ocasio-Cortez. Cawthorn has denied being racist after facing several controversies, including criticism for being uncomfortably excited to visit Hitler’s old vacation home.
Cawthorn also made sideways comments on his campaign website about Senator Cory Booker wanting to “ruin white males running for office,” leading the New Jersey Senator to conclude that Cawthorn is “so clearly racist.” In recent days, Cawthorn used his Twitter account to personally insult his opponent, incumbent Democratic Rep. Moe Davis.
A simp is slang for someone who lets a person order them around. Moe Davis is the biggest simp in politics.
He doesn’t just do what Nancy Pelosi asks, he grovels at her feet. It’s time to elect a true patriot who will stand up to the mob.
Let's win thishttps://t.co/OVxdQ9p7ZZ pic.twitter.com/rdtUUsNe76
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) October 30, 2020
After his win, Cawthorn taunted Democrats with a tweet that read “cry more, lib.”
Cry more, lib.
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) November 4, 2020
Classy.
A lot of people still voted for Trump
Despite letting more than 230,000 people and counting die from COVID-19, presiding over an historic economic crash, failing to acknowledge systemic racism while promoting white nationalists, narrowly surviving impeachment, and a host of other horrible things, at least 66 million people voted to reelect Trump. Granted, more people voted for Joe Biden. In fact, Biden received more votes than anyone has ever received in a U.S. presidential election.
With 69.9 million votes as of 12:10 p.m. ET Wednesday, Joe Biden has received more votes than anyone who has ever run for president, according to The Associated Press. https://t.co/qbxg3Zw6r8
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) November 4, 2020
Even so, this does not automatically give Biden victory because of the increasingly frustrating Electoral College. Even if Biden ends up winning the election, which still seems likely as of Wednesday afternoon, the enduring support for Trump is still bewildering and heartbreaking for millions of Americans.
