Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer called the recount effort by Green Party candidate Jill Stein “a joke” Monday night during an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly.
“This is a fundraising scam for her party,” he said.
Given that Stein came in fourth in the general election, a recount will not change the outcome for her. Her presence in the race did, however, affect the results for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“Look if she really cared about the outcome of Wisconsin and Michigan she wouldn’t have campaigned there, siphoned away votes that obviously would’ve gone to Hillary and have given her the state,” Krauthammer noted. “She caused Hillary to lose Wisconsin and lose Michigan. If 1/15th of the people who supported her in the election had gone to Hillary in Michigan Hillary would’ve won the state. If one quarter of those [that] had gone to her in Wisconsin had gone to Hillary, she would’ve won.”
For this reason, Krauthammer made comparisons to the 2000 election, when Ralph Nader drew enough votes away from Al Gore in Florida to tip the state in George W. Bush's favor.
“This is the Ralph Nader of 2016 now cashing in on her sabotage, there’s no other word, of the Clinton campaign,” he said.