Star Trek' actor George Takei: 'The system elected Donald

"Star Trek" actor George Takei decried the presidential election outcome on Twitter Wednesday, saying President-elect Donald Trump won because the "system" elected him, not the American people.

Takei tweeted the total number of votes Hillary Clinton received nationwide, compared with the total number of votes Trump got.

It is true that Clinton is projected to win the popular vote, meaning that in all 50 states and the District of Columbia she received more votes than Trump. But that's not what propels a party's nominee to the presidency. Per the Constitution, a presidential nominee must get at least 270 electoral votes to become the leader of the free world.

Electoral votes come from the electoral college, comprised of individuals elected by voters in each state during the primary process.

This isn't the first time in American history that a president has been elected without winning the popular vote. The last time a candidate won the election while losing the popular vote was in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Democratic Vice President Al Gore.