The Note: More Trouble With Trump’s Tweets

— -- NOTABLES

--TRUMP MAKES BASELESS CLAIM THAT 'MILLIONS' VOTED ILLEGALLY, COSTING HIM POPULAR VOTE: President-elect Donald Trump spent yesterday lashing out against the movement to force general election vote recounts in three states that were critical to his Electoral College victory, but he is now alleging that "millions of people" voted illegally, costing him the popular vote, ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS notes. "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 inaccurately claimed in a tweet, alleging -- without any factual basis to make the claim -- that millions of people voted for Hillary Clinton illegally. Clinton currently leads the national popular vote by close to 2 million votes. In subsequent tweets Trump said "It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4 -- states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!" http://abcn.ws/2gN3QgU

--WHAT TRUMP IS TWEETING: @realDonaldTrump: Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!

--BACKSTORY: In none of the tweets did Trump point to any evidence of voter fraud to account for his claim and no other evidence of his assertion has emerged since the election. ABC News reached out for comment to election officials in the three states Trump named, but had not received a response Sunday evening. The Clinton campaign's general counsel Marc Elias tweeted Sunday night that "We are getting attacked for participating in a recount that we didn't ask for by the man who won election but thinks there was massive fraud." Elias announced Saturday in a post on Medium that the campaign would participate in the recount efforts, but is not seeking to cast any doubt on the Electoral College results, adding they have not found "any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology," after looking into the matter. http://abcn.ws/2gN3QgU

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: In fairness, Donald Trump always said the election was rigged. But is fairness what is demanded when the president-elect traffics in conspiracy theories about the integrity of the election he won – while presenting no evidence, credible or otherwise? Winning did not, evidently, provide Trump with any additional grace, just as it isn’t keeping him away from Twitter rants. This isn’t strategy – it’s personality, marked by impulsiveness and no filter. It’s also dangerous – dangerous to trust in the political system, and also to the fortunes of the president-elect himself. If Trump’s goal is to earn the respect of the American people – including, yes, the more than half of voters who didn’t support him – questioning the legitimacy of their votes is a curious way to start. The next president is now on record objecting to the concept of votes being counted fully, even while no one seriously questions his legitimacy. He’s now going even further, suggesting that millions of votes were improperly and/or illegally cast. All of this is happening in a contest that he won. Imagine how Trump might react when he loses a political fight.

SPEED READ with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

BERNIE SANDERS SAYS RECOUNT EFFORT IS 'NOT A BIG DEAL'. Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said the recount effort in three battleground states, spearheaded by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, is "not a big deal." "It's a legal right. It's not a big deal. I don't think anybody, Secretary Clinton or anybody else, thinks there's going to be profound changes," Sanders told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week." The Clinton campaign on Saturday broke its silence on the recount effort with a letter from Clinton general counsel Marc Elias that was posted on Medium acknowledging that the campaign has received "hundreds of messages, emails and calls" in recent days urging it to investigate whether results may have been hacked in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. More from ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL: http://abcn.ws/2fFsjD7

SANDERS ALSO WEIGHED IN ON TRUMP'S RECENT COMMENTS TO THE NEW YORK TIMES ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE in which the president-elect appeared to soften his stance on the topic, saying there is "some connectivity" between human activity and global warming. "Well, that is something," Sanders said. "But we have got to go further than that. The scientific community is saying that if we do not transform our energy system yesterday, we're going to be looking at more drought, more floods, more extreme weather disturbances." http://abcn.ws/2fFsjD7

CRUZ: NO U.S. OFFICIALS SHOULD ATTEND FIDEL CASTRO'S FUNERAL. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz challenged President Obama and other top administration officials to not attend Fidel Castro’s funeral. Cruz said on ABC News' "This Week" that the death of the longtime Cuban leader presents "an interesting test" for U.S. officials over the next few days. "It is a real opportunity for U.S. officials to show where they stand. Let’s stand with human rights and let’s not celebrate someone who has 60 years of blood on his hands,” Cruz told ABC News' Martha Raddatz. "I hope we don’t see Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton and the Democrats lining up to lionize a murderous tyrant and thug," the Texas senator said. "If you wouldn’t go to Pol Pot’s funeral or Stalin’s funeral or Mao’s funeral because they were murderous communist dictators then you shouldn’t be doing what Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau are doing, which is celebrating Fidel Castro, a murderous communist dictator." More from ABC’s JESSICA HOPPER: http://abcn.ws/2gvazeT

CRUZ DOESN'T DISOWN PRIOR CLAIM THAT TRUMP 'LIES'… ABC News' Martha Raddatz asked Cruz yesterday on "This Week" about his remark during the GOP primary that Trump "lies" with "practically every word" out of his mouth and is "utterly amoral." Asked about those comments, Cruz said, "I'm not going to re-litigate the past. I’m going to focus on the future. I’m going to focus on what’s in front of us." "It was a hard-fought campaign," Cruz said of the primary race. "It was hard-fought on all sides and it was vigorous until the end. But at the end of the day, the people have spoken. He won the election. He won the nomination and he won the general election in convincing manner. And my focus is on the country. My focus is we have a new president. We have a mandate," Cruz said. Cruz ended his presidential bid May 3 and has taken steps to mend a relationship with Trump. He ultimately endorsed the Trump-Pence ticket and campaigned for them. Last week, he met in Trump Tower with the president-elect and some speculated he was on the short list to be Trump's pick for attorney general. Trump ultimately chose Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. More from ABC’s JESSICA HOPPER: http://abcn.ws/2gv01w4

…BUT PLEDGES TO HELP HIM AS PRESIDENT. Cruz told Raddatz that he is committed to helping the Trump administration. "What I’m going to work to do every day is to try to work closely with the new president, with the new administration and with my colleagues in Congress to deliver on what we promised. I've got to say, if we don’t, if we’re given the White House and both houses of Congress and we don’t deliver, I think there’ll be pitchforks and torches in the street, and I think quite rightly," he said. http://abcn.ws/2gv01w4

WHO’S TWEETING?

@neeratanden: I'm pretty sure that the Electors were created to stop a madman from becoming president. #alwaystrustHamilton

@Fahrenthold: Tonight's falsehood from @realdonaldtrump reminds me of deposition we wrote abt, where he was caught in 30 untruths https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-electi/trump-lies/ …

@bethreinhard: The winter White House returns to Florida under Trump @learyreports http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/greetings-from-mar-a-lago-donald-trumps-presidential-paradise/2303982 … via @TB_Times

@matthewjdowd: The problem for Trump and his fans is that you can no longer point at Clinton or Obama. You are now being held accountable on your own.

@joshrogin: John Kerry is trying to strike a deal with Russia on Syria before Trump takes office and strikes a worse one.