Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump wants to be a provocateur again. Why else would he bring up his specious and repeatedly disproven claim that millions voted illegally in California, where he was walloped by Hillary Clinton?

And why would he intentionally recall and brag about one of the single most controversial things he's ever said (a distinction not thrown around lightly)?

Trump was speaking in West Virginia on Thursday, talking about how he prefers a merit-based immigration system like Canada's to a lottery-based system like the one in the US.

"With us, it's a lottery system — pick them out — a lottery system. You can imagine what those countries put into the system. They're not putting their good ones.

"And remember my opening remarks at Trump Tower, when I opened. Everybody said, 'Oh, he was so tough,' and I used the word 'rape.' And yesterday, it came out where, this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before. They don't want to mention that.

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