“It was just Biden and Trump in 2020” general election ballots.
Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
Biden and Trump weren’t the only two presidential candidates in 2020
If Your Time is short
-
The official 2020 general election results, reported by the Federal Election Commission, listed 36 presidential candidates who were present on at least one state ballot.
-
Apart from President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, Libertarian Jo Jorgensen was also on the ballot in all 51 jurisdictions, Ballotpedia reported.
As critics of President-elect Donald Trump come to terms with Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss, some have shifted the blame to voters for third-party candidates.
"It’s now official — in the 2024 election, more people voted against Donald Trump than voted for him," a Nov. 12 Threads post read, as Trump seems on track to win the popular vote.
In response, a Nov. 12 Threads post read, "There were 4 to 8 candidates running in states for President. Big reason Kamala didn’t topple him. It was just Biden and Trump in 2020."
(Screenshot from Threads)
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Sign up for PolitiFact texts
The claim that there were fewer candidates in the 2020 presidential race is incorrect; Biden and Trump were not the only ones on the ballot that year. According to the official 2020 results reported by the Federal Election Commission, there were 36 presidential candidates listed who were on at least one state ballot. This does not include miscellaneous write-in candidates, which collectively gained 179,740 votes.
Here are the top ten presidential candidates, according to popular vote totals:
-
Joe Biden (Democrat, Working Families) — 81,283,501 votes
-
Donald Trump (Republican, Conservative) — 74,223,975 votes
-
Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian, Independent) — 1,865,535 votes
-
Howie Hawkins (Green, Green-Rainbow, Independent, Mountain, Pacific Green, Statehood Green) — 407,068 votes
-
Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente — (American Independent, Alliance, Independence-Alliance, Natural Law, Reform, Independent) — 88,241 votes
-
Gloria Estela La Riva (Liberty Union, Peace and Freedom, Socialism and Liberation, Independent) — 85,685 votes
-
Kanye West (Independent, The Birthday Party, Unaffiliated) — 70,950 votes
-
Don Blankenship (American Constitution, Constitution, Independent American, U.S. Taxpayers) — 60,080 votes
-
Brock Pierce (American Shopping, Freedom and Prosperity, Independence, Independent, Unaffiliated) — 49,769 votes
-
Brian Carroll (American Solidarity) — 40,365 votes
Apart from Biden and Trump, Ballotpedia reported that Jorgensen appeared on the ballot in all 51 jurisdictions. Hawkins from the Green Party appeared on the ballot in 30 states and five others appeared on the ballot in more than 10 states, Ballotpedia said.
We rate the claim that Biden and Trump were the only presidential options in the 2020 election False.
Our Sources
Threads post, Nov. 12, 2024
Threads post (archived), Nov. 12, 2024
Federal Election Commission, Official 2020 Presidential General Election Results
Federal Election Commission, Federal Elections 2020: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, October 2022
Ballotpedia, Daily Brew, October 19, 2020
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Loreben Tuquero
Biden and Trump weren’t the only two presidential candidates in 2020
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.