Donald Trump used Hillary Clinton’s own words against her to suggest that his former campaign rival is hypocritical for implying that the election results might have been wrong. | AP Photo Trump portrays Clinton as a hypocrite for recount effort

President-elect Donald Trump is still railing against the Clinton campaign’s decision to participate in Green Party nominee Jill Stein’s call for a recount in Wisconsin.

On Twitter late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, Trump used Hillary Clinton’s own words against her to suggest that his former campaign rival is hypocritical for implying that the election results might have been wrong.


“The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore!

“Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change,” Trump wrote.

During the campaign, Trump complained repeatedly that the election was “rigged” against him, and, during one of the general election debates, he refused to promise to accept the results if he lost.

On Twitter on Sunday, he cast that rhetoric as calling for a “delay,” and quoted Clinton’s response:

"That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a — during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of position."

Trump also noted that Clinton, in separate comments, had called Trump’s refusal to say whether he would respect the election results “a direct threat to our democracy."

And he quoted from Clinton’s concession speech, in which she said: "We must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead."

“So much time and money will be spent - same result! Sad,” Trump concluded.

The Green Party’s Stein — citing unproved allegations of hacking — has raised millions online to underwrite recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Wisconsin officials said on Friday that they would proceed, but Stein has not yet filed the required paperwork in the other two Rust Belt states.

Clinton’s general counsel, Marc Elias, announced on Saturday that her campaign would help with the recount process in Wisconsin, as well as in Michigan and Pennsylvania if needed.

"Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides," Elias wrote.

Trump responded with fury, calling Stein’s efforts “ridiculous” and a “scam.”

“The point to drive home here is that having a secure elections process benefits us all,” Stein replied during an interview Saturday on CNN.

“I invited everyone. I invite Donald Trump’s campaign, Hillary’s campaign. We’ve had calls out to Gary Johnson’s campaign,” she added. “This should be a nonpartisan, people-powered effort to ensure that we can rely on the integrity and security of our votes.”

Kellyanne Conway, a top Trump aide, picked up where Trump left off, calling the recount “ridiculously fantastical” and accusing Democrats of being unwilling to accept the election results.

Conway, during an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” hit back at Stein, saying the number of votes she won in Wisconsin is “like the number of people who tailgate at a Packers game. It is not a serious effort.”

Stein received 30,980 votes in Wisconsin, or 1.1 percent of the vote.

