The Trump team says the vote recount is a 'scam' run by 'sore losers' that will change 'nothing'
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
President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter Saturday and Sunday to label recount efforts underway in Wisconsin and possibly Michigan and Pennsylvania a "scam" that will change "nothing" about the election results. Trump critiqued Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who is funding the recount project, as well as Hillary Clinton, whose campaign announced Saturday they would participate in any recounts Stein arranges. Sunday morning, Trump devoted several posts to highlighting Clinton's criticism of his own past interest in recounts.
The full quote Trump shared over the course of several tweets dates from the third presidential debate:
"That is horrifying. That's not the way our democracy works. We've been around 240 years. We've had free and fair elections, and we've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election. President Obama said the other day that when you're whining before the game is even finished it just shows you're not even up to doing the job." [Clinton, via YouTube]
Top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway also blasted the recount plan, calling its supporters a "pack of sore losers." "After asking Mr. Trump and his team a million times on the trail, 'Will HE accept the election results?' it turns out Team Hillary and their new BFF Jill Stein can't accept reality," she said.
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.
Stein pushed back against the Trump team Saturday afternoon, telling CNN her goal is to drive home "that having a secure elections process benefits us all," inviting participation from Trump, Clinton, and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Political cartoons for February 7Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include an earthquake warning, Washington Post Mortem, and more
-
5 cinematic cartoons about Bezos betting big on 'Melania'Cartoons Artists take on a girlboss, a fetching newspaper, and more
-
The fall of the generals: China’s military purgeIn the Spotlight Xi Jinping’s extraordinary removal of senior general proves that no-one is safe from anti-corruption drive that has investigated millions
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
