Politico obtained a 27-page document from Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio that showed the reasoning behind why voters in 10 key states voted the way they did in November’s 2020’s presidential election.
Mr Fabrizio’s report is based on analysis of exit polls from five states won by Mr Trump – Florida, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina and Iowa – and five lost by him – Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The autopsy was completed in December 2020 and was distributed to some of Mr Trump’s top advisers just before he left office on 20 January. It is unclear whether the former president has seen it.
Mr Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic was seen as a big factor for his election loss in the report, as 75 per cent surveyed in the ten states said they supported a face mask mandate, while Dr Anthony Fauci secured a high approval rating.
The former president did not support a nationwide mask mandate and refused to even wear a face covering for the first few months of the pandemic, while Mr Trump mocked journalists throughout the summer for wearing masks when asking him questions.
He also regularly criticised Dr Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and publicly contradicted him on science on multiple occasions.
A majority surveyed also gave Mr Trump a low approval rating for his handling of the pandemic, while Covid-19 was seen as a top issue for many of the voters.
The document found that President Joe Biden won voters who saw coronavirus as a top priority by close to a 3-to-1 margin, as they prioritised battling the pandemic, in direct contradiction to Mr Trump’s strategy of focusing on reopening the economy.
Although Mr Trump “dominated” among voters who saw the economy as the most important priority, “Biden won coronavirus voters, which was a bigger share,” Mr Fabrizio wrote.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 26.3 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached 443,365.
Mr Fabrizio’s report also found that Mr Biden was seen as more honest by the people surveyed, as Mr Trump’s repeated false claims about election fraud prior to the election appeared to take its toll.
A four-year tracking project of Mr Trump’s statements carried out by The Washington Post found that he made at least 30,573 misleading claims throughout his presidency.
In 2020, the former president lost ground among every age group compared to the 2016 election, but critically suffered a “double-digit erosion” with “white college educated voters across the board,” according to the report.
Mr Fabrizio wrote that Mr Trump’s misleading claims led to this “erosion” as “Biden had a clear edge over POTUS on being seen as honest & trustworthy.”
