Seen, Read, Heard
Pandemic. Politics. Protests. Here’s the news that broke through in 2020.
Over the course of the year, Morning Consult asked roughly 100,000 registered voters how much they’d seen, read or heard about more than 370 current events. Not all news resonated the same. Here’s the share of voters who said they heard “a lot” about 132 of the events we thought were most noteworthy, and how the news penetrated along party lines.
Filter your selection by one or more of the items below to view.
46%
39%
37%
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg drops out of the Democratic presidential race and endorses Biden
03.04.20
Bloomberg drops out
29%
30%
34%
Congress passes $8.3 billion in emergency spending for coronavirus response
03.05.20
Emergency COVID-19 aid
46%
39%
36%
Sen. Elizabeth Warren drops out of the Democratic presidential race
03.05.20
Warren drops out
44%
40%
39%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s longest bull market ends
03.11.20
Market woes
64%
57%
57%
The World Health Organization characterizes the coronavirus as a pandemic
03.11.20
Pandemic declared
52%
54%
63%
Trump declares the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency
03.13.20
National emergency
39%
35%
36%
Congress passes the "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" to increase testing and aid small business and the unemployed
03.18.20
'Families First' COVID-19 aid
26%
24%
25%
Sens. Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler said to have sold stocks following a private COVID-19 briefing
03.19.20
Senators under fire for stock trades
48%
43%
42%
Gov. Andrew Cuomo orders N.Y. residents to stay at home except for necessary activities
03.20.20
Empire State lockdown
57%
46%
39%
Trump calls to end social distancing by Easter Sunday
03.24.20
'Raring to go'
70%
68%
72%
Congress passes a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill
03.25.20
CARES Act COVID-19 aid
27%
28%
33%
Tara Reade accuses Biden of sexually assaulting her during the early 1990s when he was a senator
03.25.20
Tara Reade allegation
66%
59%
57%
The U.S. surpasses China and Italy for the most confirmed COVID-19 cases
03.26.20
U.S. leads world in COVID-19 cases
56%
47%
44%
The Trump administration estimates 100,000-240,000 Americans will die from COVID-19
03.31.20
White House's death projection
17%
11%
7%
Former Health and Human Services vaccine official Rick Bright files a whistleblower complaint accusing the agency of abuse of power
05.05.20
HHS whistleblower
41%
36%
33%
Georgia authorities charge two men with murdering Ahmaud Arbery
05.07.20
2 charged in Ahmaud Arbery case
25%
25%
28%
Justice Department drops charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn
05.07.20
DOJ reversal in Flynn case
35%
32%
29%
The U.S. unemployment rate hits its highest point since the Great Depression
05.08.20
Unemployment rate skyrockets
51%
44%
40%
Trump said he takes hydroxychloroquine
05.18.20
Trump's on hydroxychloroquine
31%
22%
15%
Trump removes or replaces five inspectors general over six weeks
05.18.20
Inspectors general firing spree
25%
21%
22%
Trump briefly wears a mask during a private tour of a Ford factory in Michigan
05.21.20
Privately masked
77%
73%
70%
George Floyd, a Black Minneapolis man, dies after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes
05.25.20
George Floyd killing
40%
32%
25%
For the first time, Twitter adds a fact-check label to Trump’s tweets about mail-in voting
05.26.20
Twitter fact checks Trump
60%
52%
46%
The coronavirus death toll in the U.S. surpasses 100,000
05.27.20
U.S. COVID-19 death toll tops 100,000
67%
67%
71%
Protesters set a police station on fire in Minneapolis in response to Floyd’s death
05.28.20
Minneapolis police station burns
77%
67%
65%
Demonstrations in dozens of U.S. cities in response to Floyd's death
05.30.20
Black Lives Matter protests
22%
16%
14%
Republican political operatives help Kanye West get his name on the ballot in several states
08.04.20
Kanye for president
23%
21%
21%
New York Attorney General Letitia James files a lawsuit to dissolve the National Rifle Association due to alleged fraud
08.06.20
NRA scandal
31%
31%
33%
Trump signs order prohibiting U.S. residents and companies from doing business with TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance
08.06.20
Trump targets TikTok
62%
51%
45%
Biden selects Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate
08.11.20
VP candidate Harris
51%
37%
24%
Trump says he opposes additional funding for the U.S. Postal Service due to mail-in voting
08.13.20
USPS funding standoff
10%
13%
20%
Israel and the United Arab Emirates announce they are establishing full diplomatic relations
08.13.20
Israel-U.A.E. thaw
62%
48%
33%
Report says USPS informed 46 states and D.C. it cannot guarantee all mailed ballots will be delivered in time to be counted
08.14.20
USPS warning shot
52%
39%
26%
Democrats hold their national party convention
08.17.20
Democratic convention
9%
12%
16%
The S&P 500 reaches a record high
08.18.20
Market boom
24%
17%
13%
Trump praises supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory as "people that love our country"
08.19.20
Trump praises QAnon
31%
24%
18%
Steve Bannon is arrested on charges that he defrauded donors of a crowdfunding campaign for construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall
08.20.20
Bannon arrested
60%
51%
40%
Jacob Blake, a 29-year old Black man, is shot by a police officer in Kenosha, Wis.
08.23.20
Jacob Blake shooting
25%
28%
34%
Republicans hold their national party convention
08.24.20
GOP convention
48%
39%
30%
Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year old from Illinois, allegedly shoots and kills 2 people in Kenosha, Wis.
08.26.20
Rittenhouse charged
47%
45%
46%
Hurricane Laura hits Louisiana
08.27.20
Hurricane Laura
66%
65%
64%
Trump and first lady Melania Trump test positive for coronavirus
10.02.20
Trump gets COVID-19
66%
52%
64%
Trump is taken to Walter Reed Medical Center after testing positive for COVID-19
10.02.20
Trip to Walter Reed
46%
38%
36%
Trump leaves the hospital after COVID-19 treatment
10.05.20
Released from hospital
31%
22%
16%
Biden announces he will appear alone at a town hall event after Trump refused to participate in a virtual debate
10.08.20
Trump balks at virtual debate
36%
28%
21%
Six men are arrested on charges of planning to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
10.08.20
Whitmer kidnapping plot foiled
37%
34%
40%
Senators hold confirmation hearings for Barrett
10.12.20
ACB hearings
22%
15%
11%
2020 census count stops ahead of schedule
10.15.20
Census ended early
29%
19%
13%
A report says Trump had a Chinese bank account and paid nearly $200,000 in taxes there from 2013-2015
10.20.20
Chinese bank account
11%
18%
29%
Former associate accuses Hunter Biden of consulting his father in 2017 about a planned Chinese business venture
10.21.20
Tony Bobulinski
39%
31%
25%
Trump said he hopes the Supreme Court overturns Obamacare
10.22.20
'I hope they end it'
49%
43%
44%
Trump and Biden participate in the final presidential debate
10.22.20
Final presidential debate
50%
50%
52%
The Senate confirms Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court
10.26.20
ACB confirmed
9%
8%
7%
Acting NOAA chief scientist Craig McLean reportedly removed by Trump appointee
10.27.20
NOAA scientist demoted
19%
15%
12%
Former Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor says he authored anonymous 2018 New York Times op-ed
10.28.20
Anonymous revealed
61%
51%
39%
Over 99,000 daily coronavirus cases reported in the U.S., setting a new single-day record
10.30.20
Another case record
Morning Consult