Recount 2016: White House Dismisses Donald Trump’s Vote Fraud Allegations
The White House has reacted to Donald Trump’s claim of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election, saying that there is no evidence to support the allegations.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest dismissed Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations that millions of people had cast illegal votes.
The president-elect also alleged voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California, states which Hillary Clinton won.
Josh Earnest deferred to Donald Trump’s team for further comment.
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“What I can say, as an objective fact, is that there has been no evidence produced to substantiate a claim like that,” the press secretary told reporters at a White House briefing.
Donald Trump, who won the all-important Electoral College count, aired his grievances with the election result in a tweet on November 27.
“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,” he wrote.
Donald Trump’s Twitter outburst comes after Hillary Clinton’s camp said it would support a vote recount in Wisconsin initiated by Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Jill Stein also notified the elections board in Michigan, where Donald Trump’s 16 electoral votes were certified on November 28, that it would seek a statewide recount of the presidential election results.
Her campaign moved to do the same in Pennsylvania.
Donald Trump won by two-tenths of a percentage point out of nearly 4.8 million votes, making it the closest presidential race in Michigan in more than 75 years.
He is the first Republican presidential nominee to win Michigan since 1988.
Jill Stein’s recount effort was driven by the #recount2016 social media campaign, which has raised over $6.3 million.
During her entire presidential run, Jill Stein’s campaign only raised $3.5 million.
Results would need to be overturned in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to alter the outcome of the November 8 election – something analysts say is highly unlikely.