Yes, it’s wrong. In the OP it is unclear if you consider it cheating. It’s not cheating if those are the rules. I heartily agree that the Electoral College is wrongheaded and absurd. But it is the system. If Trump did cheat and plans to cheat will be via something other than the Electoral College problems. It has happened five times that the winner lost the popular vote. Absurd. But then, every single candidate, at least from the Rs and Ds ALWAYS tries to game the electoral college. Not blaming them, that’s how to try to win. You have to aim your campaigns at Swing States and states with more EC votes and so on, rather than campaign generally. But everyone knows that the game going in.
Who has tried to change this in the past. Well, back when Nixon did win both the popular and EC votes, he won the EC by a landslide but the former by not so much. So a Democrat proposed that they eliminate the EC. Nixon supported the proposal. In committee it was blocked more by Democrates, though some Republicans also blocked it.
Now Democrats, more generally, are complaining about it, but honestly that seems like correct-on-the-issue-suddenly sour grapes. Certainly Clinton could have fought against the EC a long, long time ago, as an experienced in these things person she is. I mean, I knew this was silly back when I was in grade school. Perhaps she did, but I can’t find it - it’s a bit tough to Google given where the terms coalesce things.
My point was not a defense of the EC which I think is wrong. My point was it is not cheating to win by it.
A tennis player can’t say at the end of a lost match, but I won more points, he cheated. I just lost because I lost the games I lost by low margins but won games by high margins. Well, too bad, those are the rules. And you have no problem with the rules before.
So, by all means call Trump out on other shit he pulls, but he didn’t cheat because the EC weighted things in his favor.
And by all means, advoate the removal of the EC. I am with you on that one. That’s what I meant by, ‘if only…’
Amazingly one of the reasons they put the damn thing in place was to lessen the chances of a populist president swaying not well enough informed voters. Let’s all chew on that for a while.