US election 2020: Donald Trump wins Florida

Donald Trump has won the crucial battleground state of Florida, in his first major victory of election night.

Donald Trump has won the crucial battleground state of Florida.

The President’s home state, which comes with 29 electoral votes, was a must-win if he is to reach the magic number 270.

The race was called by Decision Desk HQ at 8.11pm.

Fox News called the state just after 11pm.

It came after complaints from Republicans that media outlets were too slow to call Florida.

Decision Desk HQ and Fox News are among the seven sources recognised by Twitter as authoritative, alongside ABC News, the Associated Press, CBS News, CNN and NBC News.

The social media platform said it would flag any account calling a race before at least two of the seven had confirmed the result.

It’s time to call FLORIDA❗️

FACT: President @realDonaldTrump will WIN Florida

QUESTION: How long will it take for the media to acknowledge it❓

— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) November 4, 2020

President @realDonaldTrump is up in Florida by almost 400,000 votes with more than 90% of precincts reporting. Why haven’t networks called the race? It’s a done deal and the refusal to recognize the obvious speaks volumes about the (lack of) objectivity of these outlets.

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) November 4, 2020

As of 10pm, no other major media outlets had called the race.

“It’s time to call FLORIDA,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted.

“FACT: President Donald Trump will WIN Florida. QUESTION: How long will it take for the media to acknowledge it?”

Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis also criticised news outlets for not calling the race, saying Mr Trump was up by nearly 400,000 votes with more than 90 per cent of precincts reporting.

“Why haven’t networks called the race? It’s a done deal and the refusal to recognize the obvious speaks volumes about the (lack of) objectivity of these outlets,” he wrote.

Republicans appear to have made huge inroads with Florida’s Hispanic community.

Politico reporter Marc Caputo shared a text message from a top Miami Democrat, citing the backlash to Black Lives Matter.

“We must have gotten obliterated by Hispanics,” they wrote.

“Defund the police killed us. We came out strong for BLM and then saw the Hispanic pushback and went lukewarm and got killed with both (demographics).”

Caputo said protesters waving Che Guevara flags get “lots of attention in a community that sees him as a symbol of totalitarian butchery”.

Decision Desk HQ Projects Trump (R) Has Won The State Of Florida And Its 29 Electoral Votes

Race Called At 11-03 08:11 EST

All Results: https://t.co/6GfosqGUrH

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 4, 2020

Hispanic voters per early 2020 exit polls:

Florida:
2016: Clinton +27
2020: Biden +8

Georgia:
2016: Clinton +40
2020: Biden +25

Ohio:
2016: Clinton +41
2020: Biden +24

CNN

— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) November 4, 2020

Beyond a ridiculous take.

This is not disinformation at all. https://t.co/T2rK5IgtBu

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) November 4, 2020

“We must have gotten obliterated by Hispanics.... defund the police killed us,” says top Miami Dem, citing a BLM backlash

Waving Che Guevara flags, even though it was by just a few, gets lots of attention in a community that sees him as a symbol of totalitarian butchery pic.twitter.com/Wq6V5ht0DP

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 4, 2020

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE ELECTION’S OUTCOME

There may be 50 states in America, but when the votes are counted, just a handful of them – Florida included – decide who wins the presidential election.

In this election, 15 states fall into the category of a “swing state” or “battleground state” – meaning they could conceivably be won by either Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

As for the rest, we already know who will win them: Mr Trump stands no chance whatsoever in Democratic Party strongholds like New York and California, for example, while he’s likely unbeatable in heavily Republican territory, like Alabama or Oklahoma.

Of this year’s 15 swing states, Florida is the one to watch – worth 29 electoral votes – and notoriously always unpredictable and always close.

The most famous example came in 2000, when George W Bush was controversially declared the winner over Al Gore by 537 votes (Mr Bush won 48.85 per cent, compared to Mr Gore’s 48.84 per cent).

Mr Trump won it by 1.19 per cent four years ago, and Barack Obama by 0.88 per cent in 2012. Even in the landslide 2008 election the margin in Florida was less than three per cent.

The state also happens to be one of the biggest prizes up for grabs, in terms of its electoral vote haul. And while Mr Biden has a few other paths to victory, should he lose Florida, will be very tough for Mr Trump to win without it.

The ultimate goal is to reach a threshold of 270 electoral votes. Winning the popular vote in any given state will earn a candidate its entire haul of electoral votes, and move them that much closer to victory.