Trump Says ‘Millions’ of Illegal Votes Cost Him the Popular Vote
President elect makes claim on Twitter with no apparent evidence
Meriah Doty | November 27, 2016 @ 2:50 PM
Last Updated: November 27, 2016 @ 2:51 PM
Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump made an unsupported claim in a Twitter message on Sunday: “I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
Several outlets, including CNN, Time and Politico, were quick to call Trump’s allegation about the 2016 presidential election “false.”
The Washington Post emphasized its own investigation that concluded “there were not widespread reports of voter fraud during the election.”
“It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4- states instead of the 15 states that I visited,” Trump also shared on Twitter, adding “I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!”
Trump could be referencing multiple fake stories on conspiracy websites that claim he defeated Clinton in the popular vote count, CNN hypothesized.
The president-elect has been coming out swinging ever since defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton joined in the Green Party-led effort to recount the vote in three states.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has raised nearly $6 million in order to recount the vote in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — all states where Clinton narrowly lost to Trump.
“So much time and money will be spent – same result!” said Trump on Sunday at the end of a string of tweets arguing against the recount. “Sad,” he added.
Trump called the recount effort a “scam” in a tweet he wrote on Saturday, saying the Green Party is filling up its coffers “by asking for impossible recounts” that “is now being joined by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems.”
2020 Presidential Candidates, Ranked by Vegas Odds (Photos)
Donald Trump won't take office until Jan. 20, but gambling site Bovada is already thinking about the next election. Here are its top candidates to win the presidency in 2020, ranked from worst odds to best.
John Kasich 40/1 odds
Bovada ranks several Republicans, which means they would have to replace Trump as the Republican nominee. Ohio's governor famously skipped the GOP convention there because he didn’t support Donald Trump. Maybe Bovada thinks he could take on Trump in the 2020 Republican primary?
Note that several people are tied at 33-to-1 odds. Rubio, a Florida senator, famously feuded with Trump during the 2016 primaries, earning the nickname “little Marco.” Bovada has longshot odds on him replacing Trump.
The first Democrat on our list, she was just elected as a California senator after previously serving as the state’s attorney general. She'll only have four years of experience in 2020, but President Obama only had four years.
The Democratic senator-elect from Nevada will be the first Latina senator. Like Harris, she will only have had four years of Senate experience in 2020.
The outgoing vice president considered running against Hillary Clinton in 2016 but decided not to after the 2015 death of his son Beau. Biden is popular, particularly with working-class voters whom Trump lured from the Democrats. He'll be 77 in 2o20, which would make him the oldest person to win the presidency, if he won.
After coming losing the Democratic nomination in 2008 to Obama and coming so close in 2016, does the former secretary of state have it in her to try again? She'll turn 73 in 2020, but Trump is eight months older.
The New Jersey senator is a talented campaigner and speaker and one of the most prominent African-American Democrats. The New Jersey senator is also popular among his peers.
The Massachusetts senator could pick up supporters of the Sanders movement. She has feuded with Trump, but also expressed a willingness to work with him on certain issues.
The House Speaker is a star among traditional conservatives, but it will take a TV drama worth of surprises for him to somehow replace Trump as the presidential nominee, but that's true of every other Republican on this list, too.
Gambling site Bovada is already thinking about the next election
Donald Trump won't take office until Jan. 20, but gambling site Bovada is already thinking about the next election. Here are its top candidates to win the presidency in 2020, ranked from worst odds to best.