Trump: Campaigning for popular vote ‘much easier’ than for electoral votes

President Trump on Tuesday night argued that campaigning for the popular vote in U.S. elections is “much easier” than campaigning for electoral votes, as Democrats renew their push to circumvent the Electoral College. 

“Campaigning for the Popular Vote is much easier & different than campaigning for the Electoral College,” Trump tweeted in part. “It’s like training for the 100 yard dash vs. a marathon.”

He added that “Cities would end up running the Country” without the Electoral College and that the current system “is far better for the U.S.A.”

Campaigning for the Popular Vote is much easier & different than campaigning for the Electoral College. It’s like training for the 100 yard dash vs. a marathon. The brilliance of the Electoral College is that you must go to many States to win. With the Popular Vote, you go to….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2019

….just the large States – the Cities would end up running the Country. Smaller States & the entire Midwest would end up losing all power – & we can’t let that happen. I used to like the idea of the Popular Vote, but now realize the Electoral College is far better for the U.S.A.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2019

Trump won the 2016 presidential election over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton despite the fact that Clinton won the popular vote. That was because he won 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227. It was only the fifth time in U.S. history that a presidential candidate won the White House but lost the popular vote. 

{mosads}The defeat spurred Democrats — who were still fuming from a similar loss in the 2000 election to former President George W. Bush — to renew their effort to bypass the Electoral College. 

Democratic-leaning states across the country, including New York, Illinois and most of the New England states, have begun signing on to a pact that would see them awarding their electoral votes to whomever wins the popular vote.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced earlier this month that his state also would join the pact. Legislators in 16 other states have introduced similar bills this session, according to National Popular Vote.

But the coalition of blue states is still well short of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

Critics of the Electoral College say the system incentivizes candidates to focus on only a handful of critical swing states in order to win the necessary electoral votes. And they say it discourages voters in reliably red or blue states from heading to the polls.

Nonetheless, Clinton was heavily criticized for failing to campaign in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan during the 2016 election, leading to a renewed focus on the Midwest as key to the Democrats’ effort to take back the White House. 

The Democratic National Committee announced last week that it would be holding its 2020 convention in Milwaukee, underscoring the party’s urgency to rectify perceived mistakes from the previous presidential election.