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Trump: 'Phony Polls' Showing Me Losing to Clinton Were Voter Suppression

May 4, 2018

President Donald Trump said Friday that polls showing him trailing Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election were a form of voter suppression.

Trump spoke at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas, Texas, and he again recounted his upset victory over Clinton as a way to rev up the crowd.

"You weren't sure that Trump was going to win, but you all went out there. You all went out there and you voted," Trump said.

"I remember they came out with a lot of phony polls. You know what that's called? Suppression," he added. "They convince you that you're wasting your time. Why should you vote? Go to a movie instead. Come home, watch the results. Very few of the people in this room and in this country did that, and we really had a big night."

Trump impersonated pollsters saying there was "no way to 270" electoral votes for his campaign.

"They were right. But 306 was OK," Trump said to cheers.

Trump earned 306 votes in the Electoral College to Clinton's 232, although he wound up with 304 after two faithless electors didn't cast their votes for him.

Almost all major polls predicted a Clinton victory before election night, but her "Blue Wall" crumbled as Trump won Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all states President Barack Obama won twice.

Clinton did defeat Trump in the popular vote, however, winning nearly three million more votes. She defeated him by more than four million votes in California, a state neither candidate campaigned in due to the implausibility of a Democrat not winning there.

Trump told the NRA crowd their Second Amendment rights were "under siege" but they would be protected as long as he was in the White House.

"You have a battle to keep your rights, and we're going to keep those rights. You're going to be so happy," Trump said.