“We will see what happens. It's a legal right. It's not a big deal,” Bernie Sanders said. | AP Photo Sanders: Recount 'not a big deal'

Those despairing about Donald Trump’s election to the presidency should not be getting too excited about a Green Party-driven recount in some states, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Sanders also sought to ensure that voters know the recount, which he said is "not a big deal," is not being driven by the Democrats.

“The Democrats, Martha, are not doing the recount,” Sanders told ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz. “I trust that you know that was initiated by the Green Party, who has every right in the world to do it.”


Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, has officially filed for a recount in Wisconsin, which Trump won by about 27,000 votes. Stein has also said she will seek recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Those three states’ 46 electoral votes were enough to push Trump over the top. The Hillary Clinton campaign has said that, while it will not initiate the recount process, it will participate in the recounts.

“Well, of course they joined in,” Sanders said of the Clinton campaign’s participation. “We will see what happens. It's a legal right. It's not a big deal. I don't think anybody, Secretary Clinton or anybody else, thinks that there's going to be profound changes. And we will see what happens.”

Trump and his team have angrily decried the recount as a hypocritical move on the part of those Democrats participating, and the White House has pushed back on claims that the outcome could be altered.