Trump once called the Electoral College 'a disaster for democracy.' He just won the White House because of it.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
As Steven Dennis of Bloomberg reminds us, President-elect Donald Trump had a very different attitude about the Electoral College on election night in 2012, when he briefly believed that President Obama would win re-election while losing the national popular vote to Mitt Romney.
This was because Obama had been projected as the winner based in part on exit polls in the large Democratic stronghold of California, while hardly any actual votes there had yet to be counted. When the outstanding votes from California and other states were counted, Obama had indeed won the national popular vote.
And that wasn't all. Trump also posted a series of tweets — which he deleted soon afterwards, when it became clear Obama would win the national vote — calling for outright resistance, such as: "We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!"; and also, "More votes equals a loss…revolution!"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Political experts are projecting that Trump will have lost the national popular vote to Hillary Clinton in this year's election — while winning in the Electoral College thanks to his narrow victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Eric Kleefeld
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Crisis in Cuba: a ‘golden opportunity’ for Washington?Talking Point The Trump administration is applying the pressure, and with Latin America swinging to the right, Havana is becoming more ‘politically isolated’
-
5 thoroughly redacted cartoons about Pam Bondi protecting predatorsCartoons Artists take on the real victim, types of protection, and more
-
Palestine Action and the trouble with defining terrorismIn the Spotlight The issues with proscribing the group ‘became apparent as soon as the police began putting it into practice’
-
Labor secretary’s husband barred amid assault probeSpeed Read Shawn DeRemer, the husband of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has been accused of sexual assault
-
Trump touts pledges at 1st Board of Peace meetingSpeed Read At the inaugural meeting, the president announced nine countries have agreed to pledge a combined $7 billion for a Gaza relief package
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders