Before: “We must not give in to the ugly rise of populism”

After: “Trump isn’t the legitimate president – he didn’t win the popular vote”!!!

Facts:

1) This isn’t the 1st time the winning candidate hasn’t won the popular vote – it’s the 5th (i.e. an anomaly that happens about 10% of the time)

2) That’s the electoral system.  It’s a bit like complaining that a football team lost 3-nil despite having 55% of the possession. You’re measuring the wrong thing.

3) Hilary’s winning margin came ENTIRELY from 1 state – California. Take away that one state and Trump also won the popular vote  It’s a bit like saying London alone should determine the outcome of a national election. Or that Tottenham should have won the premiership in 2016 because they had a better goal difference than Leicester City.  The electoral college system is designed to stop certain large populations determining the whole nation’s result.