--- title: "Huge Numbers of Bonehead Voters Googled “Did Joe Biden Drop Out?” on Election Day" description: "Throughout Election Day and into that fateful night, Americans seemed mighty confused that Joe Biden was not on the ballot. " date: "2024-11-07" modified: "2024-11-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/joe-biden-drop-out-google-trends-election" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "Google" tags: - "donald trump" - "joe biden" - "politics" - "the digest" --- # Huge Numbers of Bonehead Voters Googled “Did Joe Biden Drop Out?” on Election Day ![Throughout Election Day and into that fateful night, Americans seemed mighty confused that Joe Biden was not on the ballot. ]() *\Image: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty\* ## Sleepy Joe Throughout Election Day and into [that fateful night](), Americans seemed mighty confused that Joe Biden was no longer on the ballot. Data [from ]()[Google Trends]() shows that the search query "Did Joe Biden drop out?" spiked in the United States on November 6 — despite the outgoing president [dropping out nearly five months ago]() and endorsing vice president Kamala Harris, who ended up unsuccessfully helming the ticket. ![]() Incredibly, there also seemed to be a spike in searches for "[where to vote for Biden]()," suggesting that many voters are genuinely clueless about the electoral process. Initially, those sorts of queries were [the butt of jokes]() on Elon Musk's X-formerly-Twitter — but as it became clear that Donald Trump had once again won a presidential election, they seemed to indicate something darker. "I am both terrified and envious of this person," [*ESPN* writer Paolo Ugetti tweeted](). "Imagine knowing peace," [quipped another user](). ## Mind the Gap Jokes aside, perhaps the biggest takeaway from this seemingly [massive information gap]() is just how common this sort of ignorance can be. "The information bubbles are not liberal vs. conservative," [tweeted nonprofit organizer Tami Forman](). "They are paying attention vs. not paying attention." "Those of us paying attention," she continued, "would do well to remember that." While it's far too soon to tell how outsize a role these sorts of disengaged or "[low-information]()" voters played in Trump's win, [polls]() and [analyses]() from before Biden dropped out indicated that the infamous GOP nominee was more popular among that set than the current president. Beyond partisanship, however, these sorts of searches also indicate something perhaps even more alarming: that lots of people are unaware of what many online types consider common knowledge. This not only leads to [disengagement at the polls](), but opens the door for the kinds of [misinformation]() and [discord]() that were [hallmarks of both election cycles]() that ultimately ushered Trump into the White House. In other words, buckle up. More on political numbskulls: [*Elon Musk Has Been Throwing Tens of Millions of Dollars at Republicans for Way Longer Than We Thought*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()