FiveThirtyEight.com is pollster Nate Silver’s site, but this tweet leads to a blog post by Julia Azari asking if President Trump’s legitimacy is at risk.
Sure, she mentions Cohen and Manafort and Mueller, but Azari says it’s more complicated than that and goes all the way back to election night:
Trump’s electoral legitimacy was a complicated issue long before Cohen and Manafort’s legal troubles.
Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
Then there’s the Russia investigation. https://t.co/9XTRbeGmlE
— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) August 27, 2018
We’re gonna need to stop right there. Trump’s legitimacy as president has been in question ever since he lost the popular vote? It’s not the first time we’ve heard it, but come on — it’s August of 2018.
https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/1034200745485062144
You do not "win" or "lose" the popular vote in Presidential elections in America.
You'd think the people at 538 would know that.
— ❄️ Brian ⛄️ (@applecharlie5) August 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/midwest_pete/status/1034207098182152192
https://twitter.com/MrNiceG68370000/status/1034202151516434433
I know this might come as a shock, so you should sit down.
We do not elect presidents based on the popular vote. It usually does happen as a happy coincidence with the electoral vote, but it does not affect the legitimacy of the election one iota.
— Coq Au Cola (@Dngrmse2001S) August 27, 2018
Actually it wasn't complicated at all. Trump won 306 electoral votes. It takes 270 to win the Presidency.
— Enter Sandmann (@LetItBurnUSA) August 27, 2018
The results of the Russia investigation remain to be seen, but the popular vote thing has been and remains a non-issue to anyone and everyone who passed 7th Grade Civics.
We here in the US have a little thing called the Electoral College.
You can look it up.— Jesus Muhammad Illiniwek 2020 (@chigaray) August 27, 2018
Pretty sure the electoral college sufficiently legitimized it
— Andre (@Dre_LilMountain) August 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/libertysrefuge1/status/1034204036419842048
One has to wonder how much longer your credentials as political prognosticators will endure when you openly declare your ignorance of our election process. Popular vote means nothing. 50 individual state elections + electoral college. Russia = fabricated fantasy. Try harder!
— Pete Moss (@RealTurfmann) August 27, 2018
WOW. Not all that long ago, it was the standard position that refusing to accept the result of a democratic election was not just "un-American", but actually dangerous to our democracy. It's a belief I actually hold too. Sadly, for some, it was just 'shit people say'.
— Roxanne Chester (@ggm281) August 27, 2018
What the heck 538? You're supposed to be reasonable. pic.twitter.com/T2WCL1opYa
— JimmyNashville (@JimmyNashville1) August 27, 2018
Someone ran out…. Here is an extra can. pic.twitter.com/6GAjZ26N7L
— Guy Monzeglio (@GuyMonzeglio) August 27, 2018
I didn’t vote for Trump but unlike 538, I understand how the USA elects a president.
— Andrews Dad (@Andrew_Dad) August 27, 2018
Dragging in the irrelevant "Hillary won the popular vote" trope makes this the dumbest tweet of the day.
Dumbness level = 825 millikohns
— OregonMuse (@OregonMuse) August 27, 2018
Nate, who’s sending your tweets? You need a gatekeeper.
— DChristo (@JohnnySportcoat) August 27, 2018
Which stage of grief is this?
Hillary lost. You lost. Deal with it.
— Nuclear Dave (@woodstockdave) August 27, 2018
Nate Silver actually did tweet about the “stages of grief” going into the first presidential debate:
1. Unskewing
2. Anger
3. "Hillary's internals must have her way ahead"
4. Depression
5. Acceptance— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 26, 2016
He also tweeted this, so keep that in mind whenever you read one of his tweets about who is the legitimate president.
Our final forecast of the year just published! Clinton is a 71% favorite in polls-only, 72% in polls-plus. https://t.co/UxLqelkmvP pic.twitter.com/yTXPTLF5Ri
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 8, 2016
Related:
Nate Silver STILL explaining what cost Hillary the election (alternate possibilities presented) https://t.co/N4VEOa5awl
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 24, 2017
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