New Poll Finds More Than Half of Republicans Think Donald Trump Won the Popular Vote

If you’ve ever wondered what kind of effect Donald Trump’s tendency to bend the truth has on the American psyche, look no further than a recent poll conducted by The Washington Post. After surveying 1,011 Americans online, the Post found that 52 percent of Republicans think Trump won the popular vote, compared to only 7 percent of Democrats.

Of course, this is simply not true. In fact, at the time of writing, Hillary Clinton’s lead in the popular vote has surpassed 2.8 million, and it’s only getting larger. As it stands now, Trump’s Electoral College victory ranks 46th in 58 elections, a fact his opponents are hoping might sway members of the Electoral College to choose an alternative when they officially cast their votes for president on Monday.

That might be why Trump and his surrogates use words like “landslide” when describing his November win. The president-elect even went so far as to claim that he won the popular vote in a tweet that unleashed harsh criticism for its sheer audacity. “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” Trump wrote at the time.

The Post’s poll serves as evidence that many Americans take what Trump says to heart, no matter how outlandish it is. It also revealed that education plays an important role in separating fact from fiction in Trump’s world, as 60 percent of the Republicans who think Trump won the popular vote don’t have a college degree.

Stay in school, kids.