Donald Trump lost the popular vote in 2016.
Hillary Clinton received 65,853,514 votes––millions more votes than her opponent. President Trump received just 62,984,828 votes. But Republicans didn’t care, correctly insisting that the popular vote, the tally of who more voters wanted, is irrelevant to the legitimate outcome. The Constitution awards the White House to the winner of the Electoral College, and rules are rules.
That’s why the GOP’s latest criticism of impeachment proceedings is so transparently disingenuous. Here’s GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday:
63 million Americans put President Trump in office. Now 231 Washington Democrats are trying to reverse the results of the 2016 election. pic.twitter.com/P8J2OTCFoU
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 1, 2019
He ought to be ashamed of himself for at least three reasons. First, it’s flagrantly misleading to note the 63 million Americans who voted to put Trump in office without noting the 66 million who voted for his Democratic opponent (and never mind the absurdity of that map and all the areas without people that it colors red). Second, impeaching and removing Trump from office would not “reverse the results of the 2016 election.” It would not make Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton the president; it would make Mike Pence president.