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Former ESPN host Jemele Hill drew fact-checks after appearing on a CNN Monday night panel discussion on the Electoral College, claiming slavery was "the entire reason" the institution was created and that the system cost both Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris the presidency.
Historians and the election record challenge both assertions.
What Hill Said — and Where the History Gets Complicated Hill argued during the panel that the Electoral College is "rooted in slavery" and that the country should have abolished it long ago, framing the claim partly around the two women who lost presidential races to Donald Trump.
The Three-Fifths Compromise is the historical hook behind this argument: by counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for apportionment purposes, it amplified the political weight of slave states and shaped how electoral votes were distributed.
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