President-elect Trump said Tuesday he would prefer presidential contests to be decided by the nationwide popular vote, and not through the Electoral College, even though Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8.
“I’d rather do the popular vote,” Trump said during a Tuesday interview with reporters and editors of the New York Times, according to a tweet from reporter Maggie Haberman. “I think we’d do as well or better.”
Trump, according to Haberman, said he was “never a fan of the electoral college.” And then he added: “Until now.”
The New York Republican acknowledged the Electoral College system “gets you out to” see states you wouldn’t otherwise, Haberman tweeted.
Trump won the White House by winning more electoral votes than Clinton, his Democratic opponent. But the unofficial votes indicate Clinton is likely to have more than 1 million more popular votes than Trump when all votes are counted.
Trump has a history of railing against the system of electing the president. In 2012, he tweeted: “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.”
“I’d rather do the popular vote,” Trump says. “I think we’d do as well or better.” Says he was “never a fan of the electoral college.”
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Adds: “Until now.” Also says Electoral College “gets you out to” see states you wouldn’t otherwise.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
