After Donald Trump pulled off the upset and defeated Hillary Clinton to become the new president, his victory was slightly tainted by not being able to win the popular vote. Since that time, Trump has blamed voter fraud for not winning the popular vote, despite the conspiracy being debunked on more than one occasion.
Spicer on Trump
Donald Trump was so upset that he lost the popular vote, that he went on to claim that between three and five million illegal immigrants took part in voter fraud against him. Instantly, respected news outlets and fact-checkers pushed back at the allegations made by the former host of "The Apprentice," debunking the myth of voter fraud during the 2016 presidential election.
Despite this, Trump met with congressional leaders at the White House on Monday evening, and continued to push his conspiracy theory. As reported by CNN on January 24, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was forced to acknowledge the issue during a press conference on Tuesday.
Sean Spicer asked again about Trump's belief of widespread voter fraud during the 2016 election. https://t.co/lmeKM1ip6M
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) January 24, 2017
Addressing members of the media at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Sean Spicer was asked why Donald Trump was standing by his voter fraud claim. "The president does believe that. He has stated that before," Spicer confirmed. As he continued to be pressed on the issue at hand, Spicer started to stutter, before refocusing and doubling down on his previous claims.
"I...I...I...As I said, I think the president has believed that for awhile based on studies and information that he has." Over the course of the press conference, Spicer was pressed on the issue six different times. Despite Trump's beliefs, Spicer said that there are no current plans to further investigate the claim.
Spicer says “there is no investigation" on possible voter fraud, despite Trump's claims. Those claims are debunked. https://t.co/lfpp2JJkIu
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 24, 2017
Republican backlash
While it was expected that Democrats and liberal critics of Donald Trump would push back at the voter fraud claim, some Republicans are even taking the new president to task.
House Speaker Paul Ryan was one of the first to speak out on the issue, telling reporters Tuesday morning, "I've seen no evidence to that effect. I've made that very, very clear."
Ryan: "No evidence" to support Trump's claim of mass voter fraud https://t.co/T2qvDVmhQo pic.twitter.com/gAoADT4lCS
— The Hill (@thehill) January 24, 2017
In addition, Sen. Lindsey Graham also called out the new president, saying that the theory of nonexistent voter fraud "undermines faith in our democracy." "I am begging the president, share with us the information you have about this or please stop saying it," Graham added.
