Trump Criticizes Vote Recount Efforts

The elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again criticized the efforts for a recount of votes in Wisconsin, describing the decision of Hillary Clinton's campaign to join this movement as a waste of time. On December 7, Trump tweeted that if it weren't for 'millions of people who voted illegally,' he would have surpassed Clinton in the popular vote count as well. Trump has secured the electoral votes, which makes him the legally elected President of the United States. However, estimates show that Clinton received more popular votes, meaning the total votes cast. The Democratic candidate congratulated Trump and accepted his victory just hours after it was announced. However, Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, who is known as part of the third party in the U.S., began fundraising for a recount in several states. Stein, who garnered nearly one percent of the votes, claims that the vote counting system may have been hacked during the electronic vote tallying. Democrats and Clinton's campaign have dismissed this claim as highly unlikely and consider the possibility of fraud to be nearly impossible. However, Clinton's campaign lawyer announced on Saturday that 'after receiving hundreds of messages, emails, and phone calls,' they decided to participate in the recount process in Wisconsin, the first state to announce it would accept a recount. This decision faced criticism from Trump on the same day. Trump also pointed out that Clinton herself accepted the election results. Nevertheless, the elected President's criticisms continued. He stated in one of his tweets that if 'the votes of millions of people who voted illegally were deducted from the total votes,' he would have received more votes than those who went to the polls. Media outlets close to the Democrats claim that Trump has made his statements regarding 'illegal voters' without providing evidence or witnesses. Trump himself added on Twitter that if the election were based on the popular vote, he could have won much more easily, as he would have focused his campaign on gathering popular votes rather than the 'Electoral College.' Meanwhile, media close to the Republicans suggest that current events could sour the relationship between Trump and Clinton once again. Fox News reports that the 'ceasefire' between Trump and Clinton after the election now appears fragile. The New York Post also states that 'based on information it has obtained,' the new government will ask foreign countries to investigate the activities of the 'Clinton Foundation.' This information was acquired from a source close to the transition team of the elected President. On Sunday, Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to the elected President, told ABC News that Trump has acted 'generously' towards Clinton, but 'I think she (Hillary Clinton) is inclined to join this ridiculous recount.' Clinton's campaign has not yet reacted to this issue and the recent statements. However, Bernie Sanders, Clinton's primary rival, who is now a senior Democratic senator, has defended the recount and described it as 'the legal right of the Green Party.' Donald Trump, however, described the Green Party leader's efforts as 'a scam.' He also suggested that only a small portion of the money Stein has raised would be spent on the recount process. The term of the 45th President of the United States begins in the third week of January.