Special Episode - What If Trump Accepted His Loss In 2020? + What If Trump Won In 2020?

In this special episode of the Chuck ToddCast, Chuck continues his “What If” series, an exploration of how small decisions and turning points can radically reshape American history. Using the razor-thin 2000 election as a starting point, Chuck explains why counterfactuals are a powerful way to understand how we got here—and how different choices might have altered today’s polarized political landscape. The episode then dives into two alternate histories surrounding the 2020 election, examining the butterfly effects of outcomes that almost happened but didn’t. First, Chuck asks what America might look like if Donald Trump had lost in 2020 and accepted the result—no “stop the steal,” no January 6th, and a very different Biden presidency likely constrained by a Republican Senate and a weaker Democratic coalition. Then he flips the premise and explores a more provocative scenario: what if Trump had actually won in 2020? With stronger institutional guardrails, a less sycophantic cabinet, and immediate lame-duck pressures, Chuck argues the country may have experienced less chaos at home and abroad, even as major global questions—from Afghanistan to Ukraine—would still loom. The episode ultimately shows how January 6th became a hinge point that reshaped both Biden’s presidency and Trump’s second term, leaving open the unsettling possibility that American politics—and even the 2024 race—could look entirely different today. Get your wardrobe sorted and your gift list handled with Quince. Don't wait! Go to https://Quince.com/CHUCK for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! Go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 02:45 Why Chuck launched the “What If” series 03:45 The 2000 election started the deep partisan divide in America 05:30 If Florida had a Dem sec of state the election result could be different 07:00 Gore’s decision to only recount certain counties was a mistake 08:15 “What If” examines butterfly effect of political events going differently 10:15 Alternative scenarios are a great way to teach history 11:30 Examining two alternate histories in this What If episode 14:30 What if Trump won in 2020, or accepted his loss in 2020? 16:15 November 2020, Trump was faced with three scenarios 17:00 PART ONE: What if Trump loses, but accepts the loss? 17:30 There’s no stop the steal, fake electors or January 6th 19:00 Trump wouldn’t have been deplatformed on social media 20:00 Trump would likely have faded away like Al Gore did in 2001 21:00 Trump’s grip over GOP tightened because he lost & didn’t accept it 22:30 What Biden presidency looks like if Trump accepted election result 23:15 Democrats may not win both Georgia runoffs & control congress 24:00 Biden’s entire presidency looks different without senate control 25:45 Biden would have been boxed into being a center-left president 27:45 Biden wouldn’t have gotten the “rally around the flag” effect from J6 30:15 Likely the midterms go worse for Dems without ghost of Trump 31:15 Biden likely still doesn’t win second term 32:45 Biden would likely have faced serious primary challenges 34:00 Border might have been handled better with GOP Senate 36:30 The big question would be how much power Trump retained over GOP 37:30 PART TWO: What if Trump had WON in 2020 with the same result as ‘24? 40:00 The GOP would likely have retained senate, Dems get the house 40:30 Mike Pence is still the vice president, staffing at WH would be very different 42:00 The chief of staff would have still put some guardrails around the WH 44:30 There wouldn’t be a cabinet full of Trump sycophants 45:30 There would be no weaponization of ICE after border surge 47:00 Vaccine rollout could have been more chaotic but w/ higher compliance 48:30 There would be early flood of GOP presidential candidates 51:00 Afghanistan withdrawal would fall at Trump’s feet 53:00 Trump’s lame duckness would have kicked in right away 54:30 Strong argument America would be better off if Trump won in 2020 55:45 There’s less tumult in the military, no Hegseth as SecDef 57:30 Trump may have had more ability to reign in Bibi Netanyahu 59:30 Would the Russia/Ukraine war have gone differently? Probably not 1:02:30 Putin may have taken Ukraine piecemeal, but no full scale invasion 1:04:00 Trump still hasn’t acknowledged that Russia is the invader 1:05:30 America may not have shared advance knowledge of invasion 1:09:00 Biden’s governance changed by J6, Trump’s 2nd term massively different 1:13:30 Pete Buttigieg might be president in 2024See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.