Donald Trump once called Electoral College "a disaster"; now says it's "actually genius"
For months leading up to the election which he eventually won, Donald Trump repeatedly called the system “rigged.” And it turns out it’s not the first time he’s cast doubt on the way America chooses is leaders.
In a 2012 Twitter post, Trump called the Electoral College “a disaster for a democracy.”
Fast forward to present day, and as Trump begins his transition of power, the businessman may now realize that without the Electoral College, he probably wouldn’t be the president-elect.
Trump’s attitude toward the Electoral College appears to have shifted.
On Tuesday morning, the president-elect tweeted, “The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!”
Regardless, Trump assures his supporters that he would have won.
“If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in N.Y. Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily,” he said.
Trump won the Electoral College, 289 to 228, but Hillary Clinton is winning the popular vote — leading by more than 670,700 votes. Only three other times in American history has a candidate won the Electoral College — and the presidency — despite losing the popular vote.
In light of that, Twitter users were quick to resurface the president-elect’s 2012 tweetstorm, blasting the reelection of President Barack Obama and the entire electoral process:
House of Representatives shouldn't give anything to Obama unless he terminates Obamacare.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Hopefully the House of Representatives can hold our country together for four more years...stay strong and never give up!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
He criticized the electoral process as a “total sham”:
This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Our country is now in serious and unprecedented trouble...like never before.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
He also encourage citizens to “fight like hell” over “this travesty”:
Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
In several tweets he later deleted, Trump wondered how Obama won even though Republican nominee Mitt Romney had more votes (though in the end, Obama won the popular vote as well).
“He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election,” Trump tweeted. “We should have a revolution in this country!”
He has yet to comment on whether he still believes the system is rigged.