Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election |
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| Part of Presidency of Donald Trump, transition of Joe Biden, democratic backsliding in the United States | |
 The electoral map for the 2020 election. Blue denotes the 306 electoral votes for Biden, while red denotes the 232 electoral votes for Trump.
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| Caused by | Fabricated claims of electoral fraud by Donald Trump |
| Goals | To overturn the results of the 2020 United States presidential election and install Donald Trump as president. |
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| Charged | Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, January 6 rioters |
After the 2020 United States presidential election, some people tried to change the results. This effort was mainly led by the president at the time, Donald Trump, and his supporters. They wanted to keep him in office.
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The 2020 Election Results
In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden won. He received over 81 million votes, which was 51.3% of all votes. Donald Trump received about 74 million votes, or 46.8%.
In the Electoral College, which officially chooses the president, Biden got 306 votes. Trump received 232 votes.
Claims of Election Problems
After the election, President Trump and his supporters said the election was unfair. They claimed there was widespread fraud and problems. They especially focused on mail-in voting. More people voted by mail because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump's team filed many lawsuits in different states. They tried to challenge the election results. Most of these lawsuits were rejected by judges. The judges said there wasn't enough proof to support the claims. For example, a judge in Pennsylvania said one lawsuit tried to stop millions of people from voting without good reasons.
President Trump also asked state leaders and lawmakers to change the results. He asked Georgia's top election official to "find" more votes. He also pressured Vice President Mike Pence not to approve the election votes in Congress.
The January 6 Capitol Attack
The biggest event in these efforts was the attack on the U.S. Capitol building. This happened on January 6, 2021. Supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol. This happened while Congress was meeting to officially confirm Biden's win. The goal of the attack was to stop this process and keep Trump in power.
Events of January 6
On January 6, President Trump held a rally near the White House. He repeated his claims that the election was unfair. He told his supporters to march to the Capitol. He said, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."
After his speech, thousands of his supporters walked to the Capitol. Many people were already there protesting the election results. Around 1:00 PM, rioters broke through police barriers. By 2:00 PM, they entered the Capitol building. They damaged offices and looked for lawmakers. This included Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The attack led to several deaths. One rioter was shot by police. Others died from medical issues. More than 140 police officers were hurt during the chaos. The Capitol was secured around 5:40 PM. Law enforcement, with help from the National Guard, got control back.
What Happened Next
On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump. This means they formally accused him of "incitement of insurrection." He was the first president to be impeached twice. The Senate later voted not to remove him from office.
In the year after the attack, over 725 people were arrested. They were charged with various crimes for their actions during the riot. These charges included attacking police officers.
A special committee in the House of Representatives was formed. This committee investigated what led to the attack. They also looked into what happened during the attack. They held hearings and collected a lot of information.
See also
- Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 U.S. presidential election
