Trump accuses Broward County of ‘getting ready to do a number’ on him in 2016

President Trump on Friday claimed that Broward County election officials were prepared in 2016 to falsify the county’s vote totals against him as they continue to count ballots from Tuesday’s hotly contested midterm elections.

In a tweet, the president asserted that Broward County election officials were late with their vote counts in 2016 and were “probably getting ready to do a ‘number'” on him to thwart his bid to capture Florida’s 29 Electoral College votes.

“In the 2016 Election I was winning by so much in Florida that Broward County, which was very late with vote tabulation and probably getting ready to do a ‘number,’ couldn’t do it because not enough people live in Broward for them to falsify a victory!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday.

In the 2016 Election I was winning by so much in Florida that Broward County, which was very late with vote tabulation and probably getting ready to do a “number,” couldn’t do it because not enough people live in Broward for them to falsify a victory!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2018

The president’s tweet came hours after he heaped criticism on the county’s elections officials to reporters outside the White House early Friday.

{mosads}”If you look at Broward County, they have had a horrible history,” Trump said Friday. “And if you look at the person, in this case a woman, involved, she has had a horrible history, and all of the sudden they’re finding votes out of nowhere and [Florida Gov.] Rick Scott (R), who won, you know it was close, who won by a comfortable margin, every couple of hours it goes down by a little bit.” 

Scott’s race against Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) remained uncalled as of Friday afternoon, as did the state’s gubernatorial race between Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R). Gillum conceded the race this week, but said Thursday that he would be open to the possibility of asking for a recount.

Scott’s campaign and other Florida Republicans have decried the vote-counting process and the possibility of a recount, accusing Democrats of trying to “steal” the election.