When it comes to the 2016 presidential election, there are two alternate universes: one is a world of facts, in which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes, and report after report after report proves President Donald Trump's widespread voter fraud claims are false. Then there is Trump's America, where millions of dead people, undocumented immigrants and non-citizens supposedly cast their ballots for – who else? – his opponent.  

Voter fraud in general elections is not a political debate. Nonpartisan groups like the Brennan Center for Justice have repeatedly found rates to be anywhere from .0004 to .0009 percent in U.S. elections. Several organizations have pointed to the president's allegations stemming from conspiracy theories the alt-right purported in the final weeks of the election.

Trump has said he actually won the popular vote on Twitter after securing the presidency in November, writing, "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

This contradicts the president's lawyers, who stated "all evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake" in objections the Trump campaign filed to former green party candidate Jill Stein's recount petition in Michigan.

But that didn't stop Trump from announcing he'd request for a government investigation into several instances of alleged voter fraud on Twitter Wednesday morning. "I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD," Trump wrote. "Including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Trump's investigation comes from the belief that the Republican candidate won the popular vote rather than Clinton. Unfortunately for him, the investigation could raise questions during an unprecedented and turbulent transition in American politics, including: if the president believes three to five million votes were cast illegally in the U.S. election, is he truly a legitimate president?