Trump praises protesters after calling them ‘very unfair’ hours earlier

After initially claiming protesters were “incited by the media," the president-elect later changed his tone, praising their “passion for our great country.”

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at election night rally in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at election night rally on November 9. –Mike Segar/Reuters
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By
, Boston.com Staff
November 11, 2016

Faced with several large protests nationwide following his election victory Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump initially reacted the same way he did during much of his campaign, tweeting that the protestors were “incited by the media” and calling them “very unfair!”.

Friday morning, however, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that he loved the protesters’ “passion for our great country.”

Trump advocated for protest after the reelection of Barack Obama in 2012, calling for people to “march on Washington and stop this travesty.”

In several other now-deleted tweets from 2012, he went even further, saying of Obama, “He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!” He also criticized the electoral college, saying, “The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one!”

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Unlike Trump, who according to the most recent numbers lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by almost 400,000 votes, Obama actually did win the popular vote in 2012, beating Mitt Romney by almost five million votes. In his stunning victory this week, Trump won the electoral college, 290-232.

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