Confirmed: Donald Trump Clinched the 2020 Presidential Victory

“how vulnerable is the whole texture of facts in which we spend our daily life; it is always in danger of being perforated by single lies or torn to shreds by the organized lying of groups, nations, or classes, or denied and distorted, often carefully covered up by reams of falsehoods or simply allowed to fall into oblivion.”—Hannah Arendt, “Lying in Politics” (1971).

The year 2020 will be remembered by many for its pervasive sense of vulnerability and uncertainty.

In November of that year, Americans turned out in record numbers to cast their votes in a contentious election between incumbent President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden. President Trump, whose term was riddled with controversies including impeachment, a poorly handled pandemic response, and harsh measures against Black Lives Matter protests, ran a campaign fueled by fear and division. In contrast, Biden campaigned on values of constitutional adherence, normalcy, and decency.

The struggle of authoritarian power against freedom is the struggle of forgetting against memory.

The difference between the candidates was stark, and the election itself was bitterly contested. It took several days post-election to count all the votes in key battleground states. However, by November 7, all major news organizations, starting with Fox News, declared Biden the winner. Subsequent confirmations by journalists, legal authorities, and election officials universally agreed that Biden had indeed won.

As mandated by the Constitution, state authorities certified Biden’s win, the Electoral College affirmed it, Congress ratified it, and he was inaugurated on January 20, 2021. He served as the 46th president of the United States for the following four years.

However, one significant issue arose: Donald Trump, with the backing of his MAGA Republican party, did not accept the election results.

Trump went beyond mere denunciation; in the last months of his presidency, he attempted to subvert the election outcome. When these attempts failed, he rallied his supporters to the Capitol for a protest that escalated into a violent storming of the building, aiming to interrupt the peaceful transition of power.

This day is now marked by some as “January 6”—a day of infamy.

These events have been thoroughly documented by bipartisan congressional reports and a Department of Justice indictment.

They happened. Or did they?

As time moves on, events fade into the background, memories blur, and truth—especially in a society rife with deception—becomes fragile.

No one embodies cynicism more than Donald Trump, supported by the credulous MAGA Republican party, and the millions of Fox News viewers and Joe Rogan listeners who support him.

In less than a week in office, Trump has started to officially rewrite history, not just about January 6, 2021, but about the past four years.

Trump’s sweeping pardon and commutation of all January 6-related prosecutions, convictions, and sentences were announced with the proclamation: “This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”

For years, Trump has claimed the 2020 election was stolen and that Joe Biden was an illegitimate president, describing Democrats as America-hating Marxists who unlawfully seized power. He has portrayed the January 6 insurrectionists as oppressed patriots.

This week, those claims have become the official stance of the U.S. government.

Trump’s actions have liberated the “hostages,” allowing them to rally around their leader. Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio and others are clear about their support. As one Justice Department attorney noted, these pardons seem designed to encourage unaccountable militias loyal to Trump.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) has initiated a new subcommittee to investigate January 6, 2021. As reported by NBC News: “‘House Republicans are proud of our work so far in exposing the false narratives peddled by the politically motivated January 6 Select Committee during the 117th Congress, but there is still more work to be done,’ Johnson said.”

The “truth” this committee aims to uncover will likely echo Trump’s narrative: portraying January 6 as a legitimate defense of election integrity, brutally suppressed by a corrupt establishment, and framing the last four years under Biden as a dark period of tyranny, now ended by Trump’s return.

This narrative positions the recent election as more than just a routine electoral change; it is portrayed as the rightful return of a leader ousted against his will.

This is the overarching narrative of Trump’s administration, underpinning a series of harsh and often unconstitutional policies.

And by “Trump’s presidency,” this refers not just to his current term but to his claim to continuous leadership since January 6, 2017. Throughout Biden’s presidency, Trump’s supporters have consistently referred to him as “President Trump.” With his return, they see this claim as validated, viewing the Biden years as merely a temporary interruption in the Trump era.

As anticipated by the Project 2025 Agenda, Trump is poised to “restore” justice by targeting his perceived enemies through aggressive legal and administrative tactics.

In his actions and policies, Trump is already moving to transform the nation in alignment with his vision of “American Greatness,” challenging the very foundations of democratic governance.

In a recent Veteran’s Day Speech, Trump echoed historical dictators, promising to purge the nation of what he sees as internal enemies.

Milan Kundera once noted, “the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”

The reverse is also true: authoritarian power’s struggle against freedom is a battle of erasing memory.

It’s troubling enough that Trump won the 2024 election.

His harmful actions are just beginning. More are expected to follow.

But his attempt to claim the 2020 election poses an even greater threat.

It appears he might just succeed.