Since the election there has been a running discussion as to whether or not Trump has a mandate. The short answer is yes he does. Before we begin we have to ask What is a mandate? To put it simply a mandate is a moral argument or force of persuasion that you use to convince other elected officials to enact your agenda. It is a statement that said your constituents agreed with me so much and I won with such big margins that you are morally obligated to enact my agenda or face the consequences from them if you fail to do so.

Does a 3 million loss in the popular vote erase a mandate for Trump? or create one for Hillary if she had won? No. Whether you like it or not our electoral system does not run like that. No Senator or Congressman has that constituency. They are only answerable to the portion of the popular vote that actually vote for or against them. At this point it is worth noting that not even the most rabid believer in the popular vote and the abolition of the electoral college is calling for the voters in California to be able to decide the Senator of Iowa or Florida. If President Trump were to go to California and claim that he had a mandate there and Senator Harris had to support him, he would be wrong. If President Trump were to go to West Virginia and tell Senator Manchin that he had a mandate there because he won by 40 points he would have a very good case. More important than the technical definition of the mandate is that the people involved believe that Trump has it. A couple of weeks ago during the flag burning controversy multiple people on the right and left condemned Trump, yet Senator Manchin said that while he thought it was still legal he would punch a flag burner in the face.

Since we have the definition of mandate the question remaining is what the magic number is. In the past this used to be 60 votes as any less and the opposing party could filibuster you. Thanks to Senator Reid, a democrat, the bar has been lowered to 50. If you have at least 50 votes you can get your agenda passed.

North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Idaho, Wyoming, West Virginia, Utah, and Oklahoma. Trump won all these states by 30 points or more. That’s 20 senators out of the 50 he needs he can claim a excellent mandate with. Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Arkansaw, Alaska, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina were all won by 15 points or more. Thats 22 additional senators that he has a very strong mandate with. Iowa, Texas, Ohio, and Georgia were all won with 5 points or more. Thats 50 senators that Trump can claim to have a strong,very strong, or excellent mandate with. I did not even mention the senators from the same party Trump has in other closer states.

Once you actually take a look at the available data there is no question President Trump has a mandate.