Donald Trump baselessly blames historic popular-vote loss on 'millions' of illegal voters

Donald Trump blames his popular vote loss on millions of illegal voters
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump spent Saturday and early Sunday tweeting about how a recount in Wisconsin and possible recounts or vote audits in Michigan and Pennsylvania are a "scam" that will change "nothing" about his victory in the Electoral College, then shifted later Sunday to tweeting about how illegal voters deprived him of a popular win, too. Hillary Clinton currently has more than 2.2 million more votes than Trump. "I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," Trump tweeted, specifically alleging "serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire, and California."

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler gave Trump's assertion of millions of illegal votes "Four Pinocchios," calling it "a bogus claim with no documented proof." ProPublica, which monitored polls and reports of voting problems, says there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. The claim apparently began with one person on Twitter and was picked up by the fringe Alex Jones site Infowars.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.