“Because 2016.” That was the only explanation Fox News host Megyn Kelly had for why President-elect Donald Trump has begun to “question the legitimacy” of his own victorious election.
Over the weekend, Trump responded to a Jill Stein-organized recount of several Midwestern states by tweeting that he not only won the Electoral College “in a landslide” but also would have won the popular vote were it not for the “millions of people who voted illegally.” Neither Trump nor his transition team have managed to come up with any evidence that supports that claim.
“Donald Trump may be the first president in U.S. history to question the legitimacy of the election he won,” Kelly told her guest, former Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson, Monday night.
“Absolutely not,” Pierson replied. “Mr. Trump is not questioning the legitimization of the election. He’s questioning the popular vote,” something she argued that Hillary Clinton is “holding on to with dear life.”
That statement received a withering “Based on what?” from Kelly. “Where does he get his evidence that millions of illegal immigrants voted in this election?”
All Pierson could come up with were dubious pre-election stories about past voter fraud. Or, as Kelly put it, “It’s a supposition without actual proof.” She then asked, “Why do you want anyone looking at anything when your team won?”
“He should stick to the facts,” Kelly told Pierson. “Why isn’t it enough for him that he won the Electoral College? Why does he have to make up information that he also won the popular vote, which he lost?”
In the end, Kelly’s main point was that if Trump doesn’t want a recount, then he shouldn’t be telling the country that “millions” of votes were cast illegally. “You can’t have it both ways,” she concluded.