Accessibility statementSkip to main content Democracy Dies in Darkness Sign in Advertisement clockThis article was published more than **7 years ago** Democracy Dies in Darkness fact checkerAboutArchive fact checkerAboutArchive # Recidivism Watch: Trump’s claim that millions of people voted illegally (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) ![\\"\\"](\\" apps/imrs.php?src= authors/washpost/44f31222-8f22-4a07-b0eb-c77cbf11540a.png&h=196&w=196\\"/) By Glenn Kessler January 24, 2017 at 6:53 a.m. EST Trump told congressional leaders “that between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused him to lose the popular vote.”—The Washington Post, Jan. 23, 2017 President Trump, in a meeting with congressional leaders, resurrected a false claim that has been repeatedly debunked. Apparently obsessed with the fact that he lost the popular vote by more than 2.8 million votes — and only narrowly achieved an Electoral College win — Trump a few weeks after the election tweeted this: Trump’s fixation with this apparently started with a few tweets by Gregg Phillips, a self-described conservative voter fraud specialist, who started making claims even before data on voter history was actually available in most jurisdictions. (It had not even been determined which provisional ballots were valid and would be counted.) These claims were then picked up by such purveyors of false facts as Infowars.com, a conspiracy-minded website, even though Phillips declined to provide any evidence to back it up. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement After Trump’s tweet, the Trump transition team then scrambled to come up with proof, but could only resurrect claims and data that had been previously rejected as irrelevant during the campaign. None of the information supported Trump’s claim of “millions” of illegal votes, just isolated instances of voting irregularities. ✅ Follow Fact-checking politicians Follow Both Trump’s claim and the Trump team’s effort to justify it earned Four Pinocchios. As of December, just four documented cases of voter fraud have been identified. Our colleague Philip Bump calculated that voter fraud amounted to 0.000002 percent of the ballots cast in the race for the White House — if they counted, which they don’t. Story continues below advertisement As we noted in November: “Now that Trump is on the verge of becoming president, he needs to be more careful about making wild allegations with little basis in fact, especially if the claim emerged from a handful of tweets and conspiracy-minded websites. He will quickly find that such statements will undermine his authority on other matters.” Advertisement Well, now he’s president. **The Fact Checker Recidivism Watch tracks politicians who repeat claims that we have previously found to be incorrect or false. These posts are short summaries of previous findings, with links to the original fact-check. We welcome reader suggestions.** (About our rating scale) Send us facts to check by filling out this form Keep tabs on Trump’s promises with our Trump Promise Tracker Sign up for The Fact Checker weekly newsletter Share the Facts Washington Post ![\\"Washington](\\" facts/rating_images/washpo/washpo_pinnochios_4.png\\"/) 4 5 ![\\"Washington](\\" facts/rating_images/washpo/washpo_pinnochios_4.png\\") Washington Post Rating: \"Between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused him to lose the popular vote.” Donald Trump President ![](\\" Opinion/Images/518238610-1267.jpg\\") in a meeting with congressional leaders Monday, January 23, 2017 -01/-23/2017 Read More info Share ![\\"\\"](\\"/dr/resources/images/generic-newsletter-signup.png\\") ![\\"\\"](\\"/dr/resources/images/generic-newsletter-signup.png\\") Sign up Advertisement Advertisement live updatespolitics![\\"\\"](\\" apps/imrs.php?src= washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/34GPOUTQBGPJDTBZOSU6XT4H5M.JPG&w=767\\")3:56 PM #### Analysis: Walz struggled; Vance tried to recast himself 3:42 PMVance refuses to say Trump lost in 2020, sparking debate’s biggest clash 3:38 PMIn debate, Walz struggles to answer question on his time in Hong Kong 3:31 PMVance peddles Trump agenda in softer tones, misleading ways during debate Advertisement Advertisement washingtonpost.com © 1996-2024 The Washington Post * washingtonpost.com * © 1996-2024 The Washington Post
Between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused him to lose the popular vote