This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Donald Trump hasn't forgotten about Utah's fascination with Evan McMullin, but that doesn't mean the president-elect remembers the name of the independent candidate he "trounced."
Trump talked Thursday about McMullin's support in the lead-up to Election Day, never referring to him by name and wondering what McMullin was "going to prove."
"Remember when they said, 'Donald Trump is going to lose to ...' some guy I had never heard of? Who is that guy? 'He is going to lose to this guy,' " Trump said at a "thank-you tour" stop in Cincinnati. " But the people of Utah were amazing, and we trounced [McMullin]."
Trump, a Republican, took Utah with 45.5 percent of the vote, and McMullin got 21.5 percent. Democrat Hillary Clinton finished in second place, with 27.5 percent.
Trump is visiting states that voted for him in the general election last month, stopping by Indiana and Ohio on Thursday. Utah is on his itinerary, according to the GOP's state chairman, James Evans.
McMullin, a Mormon and former CIA operative who drew much of his support from Utah, campaigned on the premise of a "new conservative movement." He has told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was mulling a potential run for Sen. Orrin Hatch's seat in 2018.
Trump won the presidential election, though Clinton received about 2.5 million more votes. He has claimed, with no proof of the allegation, that he "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."
Twitter: @NickParkerSTET