Wednesday, December 21, 2016

What did Donald Trump do today?

He got up at 5:15 to remind people that he, and not Hillary Clinton, had won the "more difficult and sophisticated" electoral college vote.

Trump's comments coincided with the completion of the popular vote count, which Clinton won by about 2,865,000 votes, or 2.1% more of the total than Trump. He and surrogates also lashed out at media mentions of his popular vote loss, calling this an attack on his legitimacy. 

In the six weeks since the election, Trump has shown sensitivity to his popular vote deficit, claiming that he could have won it if he'd wanted to, that his electoral vote margin (46th out of 58 elections) was a "massive landslide," and that Clinton only won it because of millions of illegal votes. There is no evidence for the latter claim, as Trump's own lawyers argued on his behalf during recounts.

So why should anyone care?

  • Legally elected presidents get to be president, not to demand that no one talk about the circumstances of their election.
  • It's not a good sign if a president needs more validation than being elected can provide.