Congresswoman and clapback expert Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) made short work of President Donald Trump after his campaign criticized "crazy AOC" in a text to supporters, threatening that the freshman congresswoman wants to abolish the Electoral College.
There's just one problem with the Trump campaign's assertion: Trump himself referred to the Electoral College as a "disaster for democracy" in a 2012 tweet. Ocasio-Cortez quickly retweeted it, writing, "I'm so glad the President and I agree that the Electoral College has got to go."
Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal opponent of the Electoral College, asserting that it makes some votes more important than others by leaving the election up to swing states like New Hampshire, Florida, and Pennsylvania, and that the Electoral College favors Conservatives. She recently posted a Twitter thread laying out her argument for a popular vote-based election.
Ocasio-Cortez's increased calls to abolish the Electoral College recently inspired a New York Times op-ed by Jamelle Bouie in favor of her argument, called "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Understands Democracy Better than Republicans Do."
It's no surprise that Donald Trump is now a staunch supporter of the Electoral College despite having called it a "disaster for democracy." In the 2016 election, he lost the popular vote by the greatest margin—2.8 million votes—of any Electoral College winner in American history.
However, the Electoral College may not save him in 2020. Trump's approval rating by state is underwater among ten states that voted for him in 2016.
For a resource in forming a knowledgable opinion on the Electoral College, you can purchase Picking the President: Understanding the Electoral College here.
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