Trump claims election rigged, GOP rebuts
US officials on Monday refuted claims from the Republican presidential candidate that the 2016 election is rigged.
LOS ANGELES, United States (Kurdistan24) – US officials on Monday refuted claims from the Republican presidential candidate that the 2016 election is rigged.
Donald Trump accused the media and the Democratic Party of conspiring against him.
“The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary [Clinton] – but also at many polling places – SAD,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
The tweet appeared only hours after Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana made the incendiary assertion to dilute the claims of fraud.
“Mr. Trump will absolutely accept the result of the election,” said Pence on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
Moreover, Trump has not offered evidence but claims his competitor Clinton and the news media are going to commit election fraud.
Last week, he also called the presidential election “one big fix” and “one big, ugly lie.”
His comments have concerned the Republican Party and civil rights groups who worry it may result in rebellion and violence.
They are also worried the unrest could affect the turnout on Election Day.
According to an Associated Press poll last month, two-thirds of Republican voters lack confidence in the fairness of the election.
In America, unlike many countries, the elections are decentralized, making large-scale fraud highly unlikely.
Also, in many of the hardest-fought states, Republican officials oversee the balloting.
The final presidential debate will occur on Oct. 19, and the issue will most likely come up then.
The latest polls show Trump’s popularity among voters is deteriorating.
A new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll shows Trump has fallen further behind Clinton and now trails her by eight points among likely voters.
One in five Republicans said his vulgar comments about groping women disqualify him from the presidency.
“Trump’s chances are down to 14 percent in our polls-only forecast (against an 86 percent chance for Clinton) and to 17 percent, a record low for Trump, in our polls-plus forecast,” FiveThirtyEight reported.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany