It begins: New right-wing election talking point claims Trump's just following Gore.

Well, that didn't take long. Trump supporters are already attempting to deflect criticism of and outright alarm about Trump's rhetoric concerning Election 2016 by referencing the drawn-out aftermath of the 2000 race, in which Al Gore actually won the popular vote but lost the electoral college.

There have been and continue to be misrepresentations of what happened in 2000, which included, among other things, media missteps (e.g., calling the race for Bush, then backing off), varying standards for both the recounts and acceptance of individual ballots, and at least one attempt to stop ballot counters from perform their job.

[url]http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-third-presidential-why-trump-s-refusal-to-say-he-accepts-1476950526-htmlstory.html[/url]

As polls have increasingly turned against Trump, he has stepped up claims that the election is “rigged,” which critics argue is laying the groundwork for contesting the election. Gore never questioned the election results before the voting concluded.

On election night in 2000, the television networks called Florida for Bush, ostensibly giving him the electoral votes to win the White House. Gore called Bush to concede, but when the networks realized Florida was too close to call, they rescinded Bush's win there.

Gore took back his concession. Florida state law mandated a recount because of how close the vote was.

Gore sought hand recounts in a handful of counties; Bush sued to stop them. Pictures of elections officials scrutinizing paper ballots filled the airwaves, and a legal battle ensued.

Some contemporaneous reports of the disturbances during the ballot recount:

[url]http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,89450,00.html[/url]

[url]http://www.salon.com/2000/11/28/miami_8/[/url]

[url]http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB975279431548753691[/url]

When outraged Republicans raised a ruckus outside the Miami-Dade County elections office last week, some protesters at the door weren't local citizens. They were Capitol Hill aides on all-expenses paid trips, courtesy of the Bush campaign.

Right up front on television images of the event last Wednesday were Thomas Pyle, an aide to GOP Rep. Tom DeLay, and Michael Murphy, who works for a DeLay fund-raising committee. Doug Heye from California Rep. Richard Pombo's office also was in the fray.

Shortly after the door-kicking, window-banging protest, the Miami-Dade canvassing board made a sharp U-turn, suspending a recount that was expected to help Vice President Al Gore chip away at Texas Gov. George W. Bush's lead. Mr. Gore's inability to secure these votes was a key to Mr. Bush's certification as the Florida winner Sunday night. Miami-Dade canvassing-board members, while denying that the crowd cowed them, decided they couldn't complete the count by Sunday's 5 p.m. deadline without using a room that the protesters complained limited public access.

Their work in Miami done, the Republicans headed to Broward County, where they joined a platoon that included about 20 other congressional staffers, who had watched the Miami-Dade commotion on CNN and wildly cheered their compatriots' televised antics. The protests grew in Fort Lauderdale, with hundreds of placard-wielding Republicans protesting the recount for several days.