What was the most hyped and talked-about campaign event that ended up not meaning anything?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm going to go with Trump catching Covid. After that the Doomers were convinced the election was over and Biden was absolutely done, and a lot of anti-Trump people actually thought it might hurt Trump...in the end it turned out to be a total non-issue in terms of electoral impact. I doubt it moved a single vote. Maybe a handful of suburban Republican types who were looking for an excuse to vote against Trump might've cited his recklessness in exposing the Secret Service, etc. after it as such a reason, but frankly at that point there was already plenty of excuses.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

Kanye West announcing his candidacy.

Folks were freaking the hell out about him taking youth & minority votes from Biden, even though it was way too late to make an impact in the states that mattered and anyone remotely aware of his actions over the past decade could see that was a laughable take.

[Pericles]

I'm going to go with Trump catching Covid. After that the Doomers were convinced the election was over and Biden was absolutely done, and a lot of anti-Trump people actually thought it might hurt Trump...in the end it turned out to be a total non-issue in terms of electoral impact. I doubt it moved a single vote. Maybe a handful of suburban Republican types who were looking for an excuse to vote against Trump might've cited his recklessness in exposing the Secret Service, etc. after it as such a reason, but frankly at that point there was already plenty of excuses.

It did correlate with Trump's low point in the polls happening a few days later and much of the electorate then voting. Indeed, Biden's lead was always higher than it was before Trump got Covid. It made him look weak, elevated the issue even further and topped off a bad issue for him, so it's plausible, but not certain, that it did swing enough to flip the presidency (tbf, it's hard to separate the diagnosis and the first debate).

[EJ24]

Tara Reade and the many attempts early on to turn Biden into some kind of groping, handsy rapist/pervert. People just did not buy any of it.

[KYRockefeller]

I'm going to go with Trump catching Covid. After that the Doomers were convinced the election was over and Biden was absolutely done, and a lot of anti-Trump people actually thought it might hurt Trump...in the end it turned out to be a total non-issue in terms of electoral impact. I doubt it moved a single vote. Maybe a handful of suburban Republican types who were looking for an excuse to vote against Trump might've cited his recklessness in exposing the Secret Service, etc. after it as such a reason, but frankly at that point there was already plenty of excuses.

Eh, Trump getting COVID, announced so soon after what I thought was an awful first debate performance, was a devastating 1-2 punch that the campaign never recovered from.

[GP270watch]

 Trump getting Covid-19 after several super spreader events directly coming from The White House made him look foolish and it was clear he did not have a handle on the pandemic. He couldn't even protect himself with the best medical staff and security protocols that this country is supposed to have. It looked chaotic and pathetic when he had to be rushed to Walter Reed.

[Motorcity]

Tara Reade and the many attempts early on to turn Biden into some kind of groping, handsy rapist/pervert. People just did not buy any of it.

I used to be a member of Alternatehistory.com, which a lot of members here are as well

There was a poster who was really confused why everyone was trying to disprove Tara Reade. He thought it was distastful not to automatically belive every woman. That said, he admitted he wanted Biden dropped from the ticket.

He was attacked by some many people he deleted his account...