‘He is claiming a popular vote victory that did not occur,’ Acosta falsely claimed
CNN anchor Jim Acosta falsely claimed President-elect Donald Trump did not win the popular vote and was immediately corrected on air Wednesday.
“He is claiming a popular vote victory that did not occur,” Acosta said on CNN Newsroom. “I think we heard some of that in the beginning of that speech.”
“Did not occur to the size he said,” political director David Chalian responded. “He may very well have a popular vote victory when all the votes have been counted.”
“Well, he said by 7.1 million. That’s not the case,” Acosta said.
“Obviously there are still a million plus, maybe 2 million votes to count out of California,” Chalian said. “I would imagine the national popular vote will continue to narrow in margin, though it looks like Donald Trump will indeed have this new victory that he did not have the last time around that he was elected president.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump led Vice President Kamala Harris by nearly 3.1 million votes, according to the Associated Press. He won the Electoral College 312 to 226 after sweeping all 7 battleground states.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump addressed House Republicans and celebrated GOP victories.
“You know, we had, like, historic kinds of numbers, especially for the president,” he said. “We won the majority by 7.1 million, which is great because Republicans aren’t supposed to be winning the majority.”
“We won at every way, all seven swing states—by a lot,” Trump added.
Days after Trump’s landslide win last Tuesday, Acosta lectured Latino men who voted for the Republican over Harris.
“Deportation camps? Do you want to see people in camps? Rounded up and put in camps? Isn’t that what you voted for? Isn’t that what you voted for?” Acosta questioned his Nov. 7 guest, Republican National Hispanic Assembly vice-chair Luis Figueroa. “Maybe they were voting on economic issues, but at the end of the day, maybe voting against their own self-interest.”
