Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump claims he won 2016 popular vote ‘in true sense’

Not first time the president has claimed millions voted illegally without providing evidence

Oliver O'Connell
New York
Thursday 03 September 2020 02:12 EDT
Comments
Trump repeats baseless claim he won 2016 popular vote

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

President Donald Trump claimed again, with no evidence, that he won the popular vote in 2016.

In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that aired on Tuesday night, the president said that he believes there was “tremendous cheating”.

Trump was describing the enthusiasm of his supporters when Ms Ingraham asked whether he thought he could win the popular vote, adding that it would send an important message to the country.

“I think I could win,” Trump said. “I think I did win the popular vote, in a true sense.”

The president baselessly claimed there was cheating in states such as California and New York and that millions of people voted illegally.

He also argued that he was disadvantaged in the popular vote by Libertarian candidates who siphoned off Republican votes.

This is not the first time he has made such claims.

While Trump won the Electoral College vote in 2016 by 304 electors to Hillary Clinton’s 227, the Democrat won approximately 3 million more votes than he did.

Current polling for the 2020 election has Democratic candidate Joe Biden leading Mr Trump 49.6 per cent to 42.4 per cent according to the RealClear Politics’ national polling average.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in