Trump Is Spinning Conspiracy Theories About the Florida Recounts While Fundraising Off Them, Too

Recounts, in general, are probably a good thing for elections. It’s great to check your work! Counting up millions of votes submitted through a shitty, inefficient, and sometimes broken system is difficult, and when races are as close as the Senate and gubernatorial contests currently are in Florida, it’s literally written into the state’s laws that you have to recount the votes.

Plus, this is fucking Florida we’re talking about. President Trump, however, does not like the idea of recounts, except apparently when it comes to fundraising.

Here’s a fun juxtaposition Politico’s Kyle Cheney pointed out earlier today:

Trump’s tweet was a continuation of the ludicrous conspiracy theory the GOP has been spinning since last week alleging the Democrats are trying to swipe the governor and Senate races by taking time to, you know, count all the votes. Gov. Rick Scott, who’s running for Senate against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, was specifically mentioned in Trump’s tweet, probably because his race is only separated by a razor-thin margin.

The Florida Department of State, meanwhile, has said there were no allegations of criminal activity linked to the election.

The recounts are mandatory at this voting threshold and will be handled by the states, so it’s also not as if Scott’s paying for it out of pocket, but sure—maybe he needs a bit more cash to pay legal fees or staff for the extra week or so the election has taken so far. As of Oct. 17, Scott had $2.3 million cash on hand. Maybe he needs more to file a few more bullshit lawsuits to try to muddle the process and if so, he can count on Trump to back him up.