Washington: US President Donald Trump said yesterday he would seek an investigation of what he believes was voter fraud in the November election, despite overwhelming consensus among state officials, election experts and politicians that voter fraud is rare in the United States.
The new Republican president has bristled at references to losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton and said he would have won it if not for fraud. Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television star, has never substantiated his fraud claim.
“I will be asking for a major investigation into Voter Fraud, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time),” Trump said on Twitter. “Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” He did not elaborate beyond the two Twitter posts.
Trump complained even before the Nov. 8 election that its outcome was being rigged against him and has said 3 million to 5 million illegal immigrants voted against him.
He lost the popular vote to Clinton by more than 2.9 million votes but won the state-by-state Electoral College tally that decides the presidency.
The popular vote and allegations of Russian meddling in the election have led to criticism that his victory was not legitimate.
Trump initially rejected US intelligence findings that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered cyber attacks that hurt Clinton’s campaign to Trump’s benefit.
State officials have said they found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the election and there is no history of it in US elections. Leading Republicans also have rejected fraud claims with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan saying he had seen no supporting evidence. Republican Senator John McCain said Trump’s assertions were unsubstantiated. “There’s no evidence of that and I think that those who allege that have to come up with some substantiation of the claim,” he told MSNBC.
Trump’s announcement on Twitter follows a White House news briefing yesterday in which his spokesman, Sean Spicer, confirmed Trump continued to believe that millions of illegal immigrants voted in the election. Spicer did not provide any evidence to support those beliefs.
