|
"The president
does believe that," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told
reporters.
State officials in charge of the Nov. 8 election have said they
found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and there is no
history of it in U.S. elections. Even House of Representatives
Speaker Paul Ryan, the most senior Republican in Congress, said
he had seen no evidence to back up Trump's claims.
Republican Trump won the Electoral College that decides the
presidency and gives smaller states more clout in the outcome,
but he lost the popular vote to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton
by about 2.9 million.
Trump has repeatedly said he would have won the popular vote,
too, but for voter fraud. He has never substantiated his claim.
The comments were the latest in a series of distractions in the
opening days of the Trump administration that run the risk of
overshadowing his legislative goals and efforts to advance
policy proposals.
On Saturday, the day after his inauguration as the 45th
president of the United States, Trump complained about media
coverage of the crowds that attended his swearing-in ceremony
and described journalists as "among the most dishonest people on
Earth."
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Timothy Ahmann; editing by Grant
McCool)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
|
