Donald Trump launches furious Twitter rant at Hillary Clinton over her support for ‘scam’ recount
PRESIDENT-elect Donald Trump slammed Hillary Clinton in yet another Twitter rant on Sunday morning, calling her a hypocrite for backing Green Party candidate Jill Stein's move to force election recounts in three states.
Clinton's team had announced she will take part in a recount in Wisconsin, which will have its votes looked over by hand over fears Russian hackers tampered with the US election result.
She is also supporting proposed recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Her decision puts her at odds with the White House, which has publicly expressed confidence in the election results, saying they "accurately reflect the will of the American people".
Trump has come out to describe Clinton's support as a "scam", and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway called Stein and Clinton a "bunch of crybabies and sore losers".
Sharing six tweets on Sunday, the President-elect dredged up quotes from Clinton from before and after the election, when she called his threats to trigger a recount in the event of a loss "horrifying".
At 7am local time, Trump wrote: "Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change."
An hour later, he was back on the social media site, quoting Hillary's words pre-election: "Hillary's debate answer on delay: 'That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free and fair elections.'"
"'We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on - a during a general election.
"'I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of position.'"
He then said: "Then, separately she stated, 'He said something truly horrifying ... he refused to say that he would respect the results of this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy.'"
He ended the rant: "She then said, 'We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.
"So much time and money will be spent - same result! Sad."
Donald Trump narrowly won Wisconsin by fewer than 30,000 votes out of three million ballots cast.
Green Party former presidential candidate Jill Stein had her request for a recount accepted on Saturday.
The recount is expected to begin later next week and will be funded by money Stein raised.
Speaking about the recount following the announcement, President-elect Trump said: "This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing.
"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount."
In contrast, Marc Elias, lawyer for the Clinton campaign, said: "Now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides."
Even if Hillary Clinton is found to have won in Wisconsin, the 10 seats it offers would still not be enough to hand her victory.
But additional wins in Michigan and Pennsylvania - whose vote totals Stein also re-examined - would be enough to see Clinton take the White House.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission tweeted: "The Commission has received the Stein and Del La Fuente recount petitions."
Stein has already raised enough money to fund recounts in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The defeated Green Party nominee believes along with a group of academics and cybersecurity experts that the integrity of automated voting processes in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania may have been compromised by Russian hackers.
But could a recount change the result of the election in Hillary Clinton's favour?
Could Donald Trump end up losing the election?
Yes. If an investigation reveals voting figures were incorrect -- possibly due to hacked automated ballot machines -- and a recount reveals that Clinton won these states, she will be President.
The result as it stands has Donald Trump as the victor with 306 Electoral College votes to Hillary Clinton's 232.
Wisconsin represents 10 Electoral College votes, while Pennsylvania represents 20 and Michigan -- which is yet to officially declare its result but based on current voting figures has come out for Trump -- represents 16.
If these 46 votes are shifted to Clinton, she would win with 278 Electoral College votes to Trump's 260.
How close are the margins in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania?
The reason that it is conceivable for Trump to lose the election is because in these key states the vote was incredibly tight.
Wisconsin has Trump's victory with just a 0.7 per cent margin, in Pennsylvania he was the victor by 1.2 per cent and in Michigan the gap is a wafer thin 0.3 per cent.
It means a swing of votes numbering just the tens of thousands would be enough to change the result of the election entirely.
The sister of Huma Abedin, Clinton's close aide, said on Facebook: "A shift of just 55,000 Trump votes to Hillary in PA, MI & WI is all that is needed to win".
What have the experts said?
Over 100 scholars and cybersecurity experts signed an open letter to Congress voicing concerns that Russian hackers may have had a hand in the election.
"We emphasize that nothing in our collective call for an investigation is meant to question the outcome of the November election", they said, however just such an investigation could lead to a recount that may see Trump lose.
"We simply know that turning a blind eye to such involvement would send a global green light to hackers and others intent on undermining our democratic institutions", they continued.
However, polling expert Nate Silver dismissed a theory that suggested Trump won by disconcerting amounts in Wisconsin counties that used electronic voting, describing it as "BS".
What happens now?
Stein needs to raise around $7 million dollars to fund challenges in the three key states.
The deadline for her to announce her challenge in Wisconsin is before midnight on Friday 25 November.
The deadline in Pennsylvania is on Monday 28 November, while in Michigan it is Wednesday 30 November.
She is raising money to pay for the recounts .
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