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Hitting the Sunday morning political talk show circuit hard this morning, surrogates for President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that Trump's tweeted assertion that millions of people voted illegally in the election—giving Hillary Clinton the popular vote—has factual grounding. (It does not.)



Citing no evidence, Priebus defends Trump's claim of millions of illegal voters https://t.co/8XvBdhONIu pic.twitter.com/08sYPMMohS — CBS News (@CBSNews) December 4, 2016

On CBS's Face the Nation, incoming White House Chief of Staff and former Kenosha political operative Reince Priebus claimed, without citing any evidence, that "it's possible" millions of people voted illegally in California. "There are estimates all over the map. Here's the thing, no one really knows. You don't know," Priebus said to host John Dickerson.


"When you're a president, can you just offer a theory that has no evidence behind it?" Dickerson asked.

"I think he's done a great job," Priebus said, looking a little sick. “I think the president-elect is someone who has pushed the envelope and caused people to think in this country.” (Sure.)



Mike Pence defends Trump's unsubstantiated claim of "millions" of illegal votes: "His right to express his opinion" https://t.co/EY0fcvVG8D pic.twitter.com/8ErKQ8Xe4n — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 4, 2016

On ABC's This Week, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, looking more tired than ever, excused Trump's clearly fearmongering tweet as "his right to express his opinion." He then cited a Pew Charitable Trust study that found that nearly two million people who had since died were still listed as voters, but the author has said it has zero bearing on the 2016 election and merely reflects outdated and inaccurate voter rolls—not evidence of actual fraud. "It's one of the things that's refreshing about our president-elect," Pence said, smirking, before referencing his efforts in Indiana to suppress black votes in the name of "voter fraud."


Sam Stecklow is the Weekend Editor for Fusion.