X

Trump claims millions voted illegally, Twitter aghast

Technically Incorrect: The president-elect, having already offered up a tweetstorm about the vote recount, comes back to tweet more controversially.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


Donald Trump

The winner. By every possible measure?

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

He wasn't done.

You might have thought nine tweets about the potential vote recount, sent between Saturday night and Sunday morning, would be enough for Donald Trump.

But he's a man of appetite, especially where tweeting is concerned.

The US president-elect returned to Twitter on Sunday afternoon to offer more tweets for the ages. Or, at least, for the age of sensationalism.

Trump tweeted this doozy of a declarative: "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

I have searched through the archives of news sites I assume peddle real news and have found no evidence of millions voting illegally. The Trump team didn't immediately respond to a request for such evidence.

It's not surprising, then, that some on Twitter were befuddled by Trump's assertion.

Professor Tom Nichols of the US Naval War College tweeted: "Two reactions to Trump's 'I won the pop vote' tweet 1. omg 2. What bad thing is about to happen that he's trying to distract us from."

Some, like former Bush-Cheney strategist Matthew Dowd, saw a logical opening: "Trump is tweeting that many 'illegals' voted. If that is the case, he should call for a nationwide recount. Let's go."

Others, like columnist Tom Knight, had a simple plea: "Put the phone down Donald."

One Twitter user even suggested that Trump eat a Snickers because "you aren't presidential when you are hungry."

Trump continued to tweet that he would have won the popular vote by a greater margin "in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4 states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!"

Those of stringently acidic spirit saw, as they often see when Trump tweets, merely a diversion.

The New York Times published on Saturday a (for some) disturbing article that suggested there's great potential for troubling conflicts of interest all around the globe for a Trump administration.

There may, indeed, be wily psychology at play. Or, perhaps, the very simple kind.

It might be that the president-elect simply doesn't like the fact that Hillary Clinton is leading in the popular vote by more than 2 million votes. He likes to win at everything.

And for some, tweeting is a game that needs to be won.