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Trump Claims (Again) That Illegal Ballots Cost Him The Popular Vote

There's no evidence to back up the claim.
Posted at 9:03 AM, Jan 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-24 09:03:00-05

President Donald Trump has once again claimed voter fraud cost him the popular vote. It didn't.

Citing no evidence, the president reportedly told congressional leaders Monday night he would've won the popular vote if not for 3 million to 5 million illegal ballots.

The comment comes just days after his inauguration. The Monday meeting was a "get together" of sorts to discuss how majority and minority leaders can work together.

In the daily press briefing Tuesday, press secretary Sean Spicer reiterated Trump's belief. 

"He has stated that before. I think he's stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign. And he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him," Spicer said.

Weeks after winning the Electoral College, Trump sent out a string of tweets claiming he would have won the popular vote if "you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

When pressed about what evidence the president had seen, Spicer later vaguely referenced a 2008 Pew study he says showed 14 percent of people who voted were "non-citizens."

No evidence supporting that claim has been found by news organizations or independent fact checkers. 

According to The American Presidency Project, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote with 65,844,610 votes. Donald Trump received 62,979,636 votes.