Recounts

[GMDino]

But, as usual, the President elect is handing it with the decorum you would expect from him.  While also guiding the media away from his own possible troubles.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/tweet-flurry-president-elect-donald-trump-calls-recount-efforts-sad-n688761

Quote:President-elect Donald Trump took to his favorite social media platform to send a stream of posts indicating that the Hillary Clinton campaign's involvement in an election recount was hypocritical.


Trump, who himself implied that he would not concede the election during the campaign if he had lost, used his Twitter account to declare that "Nothing will change." He also reiterated that Clinton had already conceded the election.

Related: Clinton Campaign Backs Jill Stein's Election Recount Effort: Lawyer

The former real estate mogul turned politician then quoted three instances via six tweets in which Clinton slammed Trump for suggesting he would not accept the election results.


Trump was responding to the Clinton campaign's announcement that they intend to back the statewide presidential election recount effort taking place in Wisconsin, which was led by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Marc Elias, a Clinton campaign lawyer, said they would involve themselves to ensure a "fair" process for all involved.

Related: What Happens if Donald Trump Loses and Won't Concede?

Stein said she also intends to pursue recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, though she also stated on Twitter that she would "do a recount in any state where the deadline has not passed."

Quote:[/url]
Dr. Jill Stein 

@DrJillStein
I will do a recount in any state where the deadline has not passed. Help my staff find state deadlines: http://ceimn.org  #Recount2016
3:30 PM - 26 Nov 2016

Stein's campaign is trying to raise as much as $7 million for the effort online — and it had garnered more than $6 million as of Saturday evening.

Stein also took some shots at Clinton's interest in the election recount, tweeting:

"Why would Hillary Clinton — who conceded the election to Donald Trump — want #Recount2016? You cannot be on-again, off-again about democracy."

Quote:Dr. Jill Stein 

@DrJillStein
Why would Hillary Clinton—who conceded the election to Donald Trump—want #Recount2016? You cannot be on-again, off-again about democracy.
4:41 PM - 26 Nov 2016

Later in the day, Trump practically offered his support for the recount, providing a seemingly baseless allegation that he would have won the popular vote "if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

Quote:Donald J. Trump 

@realDonaldTrump
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
3:30 PM - 27 Nov 2016

It was unclear where he got that notion. Voting illegally is difficult, as Trump illustrated in a 2004 video in which he was turned away from three voting locations.

Quote:Bradd Jaffy 

 @BraddJaffy
Trump dismisses 3-state recount effort as a scam...

...then falsely claims millions voted illegally—which a national recount might uncover. pic.twitter.com/8VE0AwcgmX

Quote:Bradd Jaffy 

@BraddJaffy
It's hard to vote illegally. Trump himself was turned away from 3 polling places in 2004 b/c he wasn't on the rolls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOcQEcwFkX0 …
4:39 PM - 27 Nov 2016

The president-elect then said he could have had an easier campaign had he pursued the popular vote instead of the Electoral College. According to his Twitter account, the future commander-in-chief said he would have only had to campaign in three or four states instead of the numerous states he visited.

Quote:
Donald J. Trump 

@realDonaldTrump
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--
3:34 PM - 27 Nov 2016

Quote:Donald J. Trump 

@realDonaldTrump
states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!
3:41 PM - 27 Nov 2016

In the past, Trump has come out against the Electoral College. Previously, on Twitter of course, he called the institution "a disaster for democracy." He also told Mitt Romney supporters via tweet in 2012 to "fight like hell" after Romney's loss, as he incorrectly believed the Electoral College had allowed President Obama to win.

Quote:Donald J. Trump 

@realDonaldTrump
The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.
11:45 PM - 6 Nov 2012

Quote:
Donald J. Trump 

@realDonaldTrump
Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.
11:30 PM - 6 Nov 2012

President Obama won both the popular vote and the Electoral College by large margins in 2008 and 2012.

Donald Trump's top aides on Sunday also denounced the recount effort.

"It is a total and complete hypocritical joke that the group of people that thought that they were nervous about President-elect Trump not conceding are the people that are conducting recounts in states where we won by over 68,000 votes," said incoming Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on "Fox News Sunday."

Former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway also slammed the recount effort on CNN's "State of the Union," where she referenced the backlash over Trump's refusal to say he'd accept the election results during the third general election debate as evidence of hypocrisy on the part of Democrats now supporting the recount.

Multiple media analysts have opined that president-elect might be using his Twitter account to distract from more serious news, such as the New York Times investigation into Trump's potential conflicts of interest around the world.

Quote:Jack Shafer 

@jackshafer
Here's the breaking news investigation that Trump is trying to distract you from reading/discussing/retweeting: http://nyti.ms/2g7M2vT 
4:29 PM - 27 Nov 2016

Potential Conflicts Around the Globe for Trump, the Businessman President
In many of the president-elect’s international development ventures, his business partners have close ties to foreign governments.
nytimes.com

Quote:
Heidi N Moore 

@moorehn
General rule: when you're tempted to retweet Trump, STOP AND RETWEET THE ARTICLE HE'S TRYING TO DISTRACT YOU FROM. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/us/politics/donald-trump-international-business.html?_r=0 …
3:58 PM - 27 Nov 2016

[url=https://t.co/QZfdw3WyZ1]Potential Conflicts Around the Globe for Trump, the Businessman President
In many of the president-elect’s international development ventures, his business partners have close ties to foreign governments.
nytimes.com