U.S.President-elect Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday thatbesides winning the Electoral College “in a landslide” in theNov. 8 election: “I won the popular vote if you deduct themillions of people who voted illegally.”
The allegation, made without evidence, comes as Democraticrival Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote over Mr. Trump has surpassed 2 million votes and is expected to grow to more than 2.5 million as ballots in populous states such as California continue to be tallied.
Ms. Clinton's legal team said on Saturday it had agreed to participate in a recount of Wisconsin votes after the state'selection board approved the effort requested by Green Partycandidate Jill Stein, which Mr. Trump has called “ridiculous.”
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“In addition to winning the Electoral College in alandslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions ofpeople who voted illegally,” Mr. Trump tweeted as reporters waitedfor him to leave his Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida to flyback to his residence in New York City.
The U.S. presidential race is decided by the Electoral College, based on a tally of wins from the state-by-statecontests, rather than by the national vote. Mr. Trump has surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. The Electoral College results are expected to be finalized on Dec.19.
Mr. Trump added he would have won the “so-called popular vote... easily and convincingly” if the U.S. election was determinedthat way instead of by the Electoral College.
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Before the election, Mr. Trump made unsubstantiated allegations that the results of the election might be “rigged” against him.
Since the vote, Mr. Trump's message has alternated between appealing for unity and railing against his opponents and the media.
In a video message released ahead of the U.S. Thanksgivingholiday on Thursday, Mr. Trump said he hoped it would be a time forAmericans “to begin to heal our divisions” following a “long and bruising political campaign.”
Mr. Trump has derided the fundraising effort by Ms. Stein to launch recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania as a “scam.”Those states had voted Democratic in recent presidentialelections but all broke narrowly for the Republican Trump in this month's election. The recounts are not expected to change the results of the election.
Mr. Stein, who won about 1 percent of the national vote, has said she wants a recount to guarantee the integrity of the U.S.voting system, a push that came after some experts raised thepossibility that hacks could have affected the results.
Democratic President Barack Obama's administration has saidthere is no evidence of electoral tampering, but experts havesaid that the only way to verify the results are accurate is toconduct a recount.
Mr. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence have a series ofmeetings in New York on Monday to interview potential Cabinetmembers and other advisers. Mr. Trump takes office on Jan. 20.