'UNDEMOCRATIC': Harry Reid goes in on the Electoral College
Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid blasted the Electoral College in an interview with BuzzFeed Tuesday calling it "very undemocratic."
Reid joins a chorus of critics asserting that the institution should be disbanded after President-elect Donald Trump's stunning victory in the presidential election.
Although Trump won enough electoral votes to win the White House, he lost the the popular vote to his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, by more than 2.6 million votes and counting.
"In this election Hillary Clinton wound up getting getting almost 3 million more votes than Trump," Reid said, "it's time the system goes. It is very undemocratic."
The discrepancy has led to a movement among so-called "faithless electors" nationwide who are threatening to refuse to vote for Trump when all 538 electors meet on December 19 to finalize the results of the election and certify his victory.
"People should join together to get rid of this. It is unfair presidential elections are focused on seven states. It's wrong. We should have a general election," Reid said.
A federal judge on Monday rejected a move by two Colorado electors who sought to get out of casting their votes for Trump. The two electors, who are both Democrats, sought to encourage Republican electors nationwide to pick a third-party candidate, and offered to cast their Democratic votes for a consensus candidate who is not Hillary Clinton.
During Reid's interview Tuesday, he commented on the CIA's findings that Russia attempted to help Trump win via a coordinated hacking campaign targeting the Democratic Party, calling the matter "as big a deal as Watergate or 9/11."
The CIA's revelation could be another point of contention when the electors meet later this month, Reid said.
"If these electors had the same briefings that I had, they would be concerned about the election."