Trump suggests general election could be 'rigged'

[webfact]

Trump suggests general election could be 'rigged' 
JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested Monday that he fears the general election "is going to be rigged" — an unprecedented assertion by a modern presidential candidate.

Trump's extraordinary claim — one he did not back up with any immediate evidence — would, if it became more than just an offhand comment, seem to threaten the tradition of peacefully contested elections and challenge the very essence of a fair democratic process.

"I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest," the Republican nominee told a town hall crowd in Columbus, Ohio. He added that he has been hearing "more and more" that the election may not be contested fairly, though he did not elaborate further.

Trump made the claim after first suggesting that the Democrats had fixed their primary system so Hillary Clinton could defeat Bernie Sanders. Trump has previously backed up that thought by pointing to hacked emails from the national party that appeared to indicate a preference for Clinton. Still, the former Secretary of State received 3.7 million more votes than Sanders nationwide and had established a clear lead in delegates by March 1.

The celebrity businessman — who has been known to dabble in conspiracy theories, including claims that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and, more recently, that Sen. Ted Cruz's father was an associate of President John F. Kennedy's assassin — also claimed that the Republican nomination would have been stolen from him had he not won by significant margins.

He then asserted that November's general election may not be on the up-and-up.

Requests to Trump's campaign for additional explanation were not returned.

The statement could be an effort by Trump to lay the groundwork of an excuse if he goes on to lose the general election. But if he were to be defeated in November and then publicly declare that the election results were bogus, his claim could yield unpredictable reactions from his supporters and fellow Republicans.

Trump did not repeat his claim at an evening rally in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. But he has not been shy of asserting that the electoral process has been "rigged."

It became a frequent catchphrase of his during a low-water mark of his primary campaign this spring, when forces allied with Republican rival Ted Cruz managed to pack state delegations with supporters of the Texas senator. Trump also asserted that the Republican Party had changed the delegate allocation in the Florida primary to favor a native candidate, like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio, at Trump's expense.

In recent weeks, in an effort to woo angry Sanders supporters to his campaign, Trump has made the claim that the Democrats' process was also rigged. Monday night, Trump said Sanders "made a deal with the devil," and said of Clinton, "She's the devil."

The Clinton campaign declined to comment about Trump's remarks.

The event in Ohio was Trump's first campaign appearance since the onset of his tussle with the parents of a slain Army veteran, but he did not address the flap. He spoke for nearly an hour Monday in Columbus, but did not mention his criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Muslims whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004.

The Khans spoke out against Trump and questioned his familiarity with the Constitution last week at the Democratic National Convention. Trump struck back by questioning whether Ghazala Khan had been allowed to speak. She said she is still too grief-stricken by her son's death.

Trump criticized the family in an interview Sunday and again in a pair of tweets Monday morning. Asked on MSNBC Monday whether Trump should apologize, Ghazala Khan said, "I don't want to hear anything from him and I don't want to say anything to him."

But his running mate, Mike Pence, quieted a campaign rally crowd Monday that booed a woman who said she had a son who serves in the U.S. Air Force and asked how he can tolerate what she called Trump's disrespect of American servicemen.

Pence asked the Nevada crowd to quiet down, then said about the questioner: "That's what freedom looks like. That's what freedom sounds like."

He continued: "Capt. Kahn is an American hero. We honor him and his family ... we cherish his family." He added that Trump had great respect for veterans.

___

Associated Press writer Scott Sonner contributed reporting in Carson City, Nevada.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-02

[mtls2005]

The Infowars tin-heads will gobble this one down...

 

"No one knows the system better than me..."

 

 

[Skywalker69]

As I said before he is a "thinskinned whining little bitch" and that´s never going to change.

He is only happy surrounded by "brown noses"

[Pimay1]

Unprecedented assertion with just cause after seeing how the DNC rigged the primaries against Bernie and all the dirty tricks they pulled.

[Ulysses G.]

After the proof came out about the conspiracy against Bernie, this would seem to be a legitimate worry. After all, many Democrats AND Republicans will do ANYTHING to stop this guy.

[Berkshire]

9 minutes ago, Skywalker69 said:

As I said before he is a "thinskinned whining little bitch" and that´s never going to change.

He is only happy surrounded by "brown noses"

In Trump's world, if he wins, the elections are fair.  If he loses, the elections are rigged.  Yeap, a whining little bitch.  I'd say his supporters are the same. 

[Carib]

Politicians always start using these kind of arguments when they know there is a good chance they will lose. 

[Alive]

Of course it's rigged from the primaries to the end with the electoral college and the ridiculous power of a supreme court which doesn't have to be objective. The US is the same. Money is everything and the poor will be used and die for the rich. Just believe in your heaven or afterlife. There is a way out besides real change and empowerment of the people.

[Alive]

4 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

In Trump's world, if he wins, the elections are fair.  If he loses, the elections are rigged.  Yeap, a whining little bitch.  I'd say his supporters are the same. 

You are right Trump and Hillary shouldn't complain since they are both sly and corrupt 1% folks who have joined the royalty of America.

[Pinot]

Trump sees the writing on the wall and is already spewing the conspiracy angles for the beat down he's going to take in November. 

Somewhere along the line he'll declare victory and go home with his little tail between his legs. 

Worst candidate in American history. 

[Chang_paarp]

By rigged he means he does not win. 

 

Looks like he has got some unfavourable polling and is predicting his own failure complete with excuses.

[neverdie]

He should pray that he looses cause if he wins, I believe his life expectancy will be short.

 

just sayin

 

 

[IMA_FARANG]

Trump is a walking a- -hole, and such a fool that his mouth has got him into trouble again.

But the Republican party is so used to Ben Dover poltics they don't know any better.

You know what Ben Dover politics is don't you.

When your party asks you to, drop your pants and Ben Dover

[mtls2005]

"I hear, more and more, that the election..." loses train of thought.

Attention span of a five year old.

America is great, anyone can grow up to be President, Oops, this would disqualify The Donald.

 

 

[Alive]

Lesser of evils as always. Too bad for America.

[MZurf]

Pathetic little man. As has been said before, he realizes which way the wind blows and is already making up whiny, b!tchy excuses for his impending loss..

[mtls2005]

By "rigged" I assume he means letting "The Blacks", "The Muslims" and "The Immigrants" vote? 

A lot of the racist Republican state legislature's voter suppression laws have been struck down. So getting out the vote should be a bit easier.

The North Carolina law was particularly revolting.

To suggest the presidential election will be rigged - omitting 2000's unique circumstances - is by far the most egregious and irresponsible statement he's made, and that's saying a lot.

 

GOP voting restrictions struck down in three states

 

Courts on Friday struck down or limited voting laws in three states after separate rulings deemed that legislation passed by Republican lawmakers in recent years was unconstitutional.
North Carolina, Wisconsin and Kansas all saw state laws affecting voters nullified or limited by courts.

While North Carolina has been the focus of criticism for legislation that requires voters to present photo identification at polling places — a measure a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Friday because it targeted African-Americans “with almost surgical precision” — Republican lawmakers in Kansas and Wisconsin also saw their legislation overturned, according to the Associated Press.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/gop-voting-restrictions-struck-three-states/
 

[thaihome]

1 hour ago, Ulysses G. said:

After the proof came out about the conspiracy against Bernie, this would seem to be a legitimate worry. After all, many Democrats AND Republicans will do ANYTHING to stop this guy.

Can you show one overt act in this conspiracy that would have caused 3 million more people to vote for Bernie?

TH 

[Ulysses G.]

It is imposible to predict how things would have turned out if the  democratic party was not actively working against him. They are supposed to be impartial and they were NOT!

[Chicog]

He's already lying through his teeth about the debate schedule, as if it was sneakily dumped on him at the last minute. Laying ground to avoid making an ar$e of himself no doubt.

 

Quote

 

Presidential candidate Donald Trump doesn’t like the fact that two of the three scheduled debates conflict with NFL prime-time games. He claimed in an interview with ABC’s This Week that the NFL sent him a letter calling the move “ridiculous.”

The league called him on it, saying no letter was sent. Apparently learning a lesson from the last time he took on the NFL (as owner of the USFL’s New Jersey Generals), Trump has backed down.

 

 

[dageurreotype]

1 hour ago, Pinot said:

Trump sees the writing on the wall and is already spewing the conspiracy angles for the beat down he's going to take in November. 

Somewhere along the line he'll declare victory and go home with his little tail between his legs. 

Worst candidate in American history. 

You're assuming it's only Trump fearing this. You really should broaden your reading to something other than msm, of which I have completely given up. Many years ago a teacher told our class 'the only thing you can believe in a newspaper is the date'. Stuck with me that ..

[Chicog]

1 minute ago, dageurreotype said:

You're assuming it's only Trump fearing this. You really should broaden your reading to something other than msm, of which I have completely given up. Many years ago a teacher told our class 'the only thing you can believe in a newspaper is the date'. Stuck with me that ..

Your teacher wasn't very bright.

 

 

[ilostmypassword]

24 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

It is imposible to predict how things would have turned out if the  democratic party was not actively working against him. They are supposed to be impartial and they were NOT!

Actually, we do know. Because the Democrat leadership's plotting was totally inept and their plans, such as they were, were not carried out. As the headline of this revealing article by Jordan Weissman shows:  

The DNC’s Leaked Emails Show It Had No Idea How to Rig an Election

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/07/25/the_dnc_s_emails_show_it_had_no_idea_how_to_rig_an_election.html

[Pinot]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

By "rigged" I assume he means letting "The Blacks", "The Muslims" and "The Immigrants" vote? 

A lot of the racist Republican state legislature's voter suppression laws have been struck down. So getting out the vote should be a bit easier.

The North Carolina law was particularly revolting.

To suggest the presidential election will be rigged - omitting 2000's unique circumstances - is by far the most egregious and irresponsible statement he's made, and that's saying a lot.

 

GOP voting restrictions struck down in three states

 

Courts on Friday struck down or limited voting laws in three states after separate rulings deemed that legislation passed by Republican lawmakers in recent years was unconstitutional.
North Carolina, Wisconsin and Kansas all saw state laws affecting voters nullified or limited by courts.

While North Carolina has been the focus of criticism for legislation that requires voters to present photo identification at polling places — a measure a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Friday because it targeted African-Americans “with almost surgical precision” — Republican lawmakers in Kansas and Wisconsin also saw their legislation overturned, according to the Associated Press.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/gop-voting-restrictions-struck-three-states/
 

The GOP actively supports and actually legislates restricting voting! Imagine supporting a party that does that? 

I would say that's unbelievable, but of course it's not. You can't let the negroes vote if you're a Republican politician. 

There aren't enough old white wingnuts to get Trump elected.  

The Republican party is pathetic. 

[MZurf]

52 minutes ago, Chicog said:

He's already lying through his teeth about the debate schedule, as if it was sneakily dumped on him at the last minute. Laying ground to avoid making an ar$e of himself no doubt.

 

 

"Laying ground to avoid making an ar$e of himself no doubt."

That will, thankfully, be impossible for him.

[Alive]

The electoral college is the rigged part in my view. They can do anything they want no matter what the masses say through their voting. If it were possible for Trump to win a majority of the votes, the electoral college could still choose Hillary as president. That's just wrong. All of these primary and electoral college delegates just show that individuals' votes mean nothing. 

[MZurf]

Here's another reason he invents excuses for his upcoming crushing loss:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/forget-convention-bump-gallup-found-172446840.html

[Jingthing]

The issue here is this. Yes, he's probably going to lose. The reason? The majority of Americans are realizing the man is a MADMAN. Insane. A psychopath. A con man. 

 

Hillary is flawed, yes she lies like a normal politician, but she is not insane.

 

That's what this has come down to.

The DANGEROUS thing about trump's latest tactic is that on his side are some very potentially VIOLENT factions. If/when he loses (hopefully) expect more of this "rigging" "conspiracy theory" garbage from trump, and sadly ... think about it ... there will be BLOOD.

I see his rhetoric now, which  bet on it, will deepen and get more extreme as an implied threat of VIOLENCE if he loses. He did the exact same thing in the primary before it was clear he had become unstoppable in that.

He's dangerous if he wins. He's dangerous if he loses. Still, much better if he loses. Don't be intimidated by this horrific American psychopathic fascisti. 

[Alive]

For some Jingthing life is a tragedy under both these folks. Violence is one thing but lack of economics and power can kill people as well. Bernie spoke out against the system while Hillary was loading her pockets from that system. If Hillary doesn't change things for the poor in the areas of jobs, opportunity and in political power, she can go down with Trump as well. The anger you speak of will be there for her from liberals too. The poor aren't just angry at corrupt cops, they are angry at the rich and Hillary is one of these rich who fill their pockets while so many suffer. This election is a story of the lesser of two evils and that's all. Hillary is one of those evils.

[Chicog]

1 hour ago, Ulysses G. said:

Slate is nothing but a liberal propoganda rag! 

Pretty well anything that doesn't agree with your narrative is.