Didn't the dirty don accuse the GOP of the same or something similar?? If he can't win, nobody wins, he is more than willing to take the country down w/ him
Trump suggests general election could be 'rigged'
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suggested 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 on Monday. 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.
He repeated the charge Monday night on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," saying: "November 8th, we'd better be careful, because that election is going to be rigged. And I hope the Republicans are watching closely or it's going to be taken away from us."
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 has not been shy about 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 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. Khan is an American hero. We honor him and his family ... we cherish his family." He added that Trump had great respect for veterans.
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On Tuesday, Richard Hanna of New York became the first Republican congressman to publicly declare that he would vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Mr Hanna called Mr Trump "a national embarrassment".
Other Republicans have distanced themselves from Mr Trump or withheld their support.
Mr Trump's statements and policies about women, undocumented immigrants and Muslims have unsettled many Republican Party leaders.
Mr Hanna, who is retiring in November, said he had been considering voting for Mrs Clinton for months, but Mr Trump's recent comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan had finally persuaded him.
At last week's Democratic National Convention, Mr Khan, the father of a Muslim US soldier killed in Iraq, criticised Mr Trump's plan to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the US.
Mr Trump responded by attacking the Gold Star family, the term for families that lost a relative in war. Democratic and Republican leaders as well as veteran groups quickly condemned him.
"I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates," said Arizona Senator John McCain, a Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war.
On Monday, Sally Bradshaw, a top adviser to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, said that Mr Trump's candidacy had convinced her to leave the Republican Party.
Ms Bradshaw said she would vote for Mrs Clinton if it looked as if Mr Trump could win her home state of Florida.
Until recently, many Republicans opposed to Mr Trump stopped short of supporting Mrs Clinton, saying they would vote for a third party and write-in candidate.
Mrs Clinton has been actively courting moderate Republicans in recent weeks. Her convention featured several Republican and independent speakers, including former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Republicans not voting for Mr Trump
Barbara Bush, former first lady
Jeb Bush, former Florida governor, 2016 presidential candidate
William Cohen, former secretary of defence
Jeff Flake, Arizona senator
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator, 2016 presidential candidate
Larry Hogan, Maryland governor
John Kasich, Ohio governor, 2016 presidential candidate
Mark Kirk, Illinois senator
Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, 2012 Republican presidential nominee
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida congresswoman
Ben Sasse, Nebraska senator
Republicans voting for Mrs Clinton
Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state
Hank Paulson, former treasury secretary
Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser
Richard Hanna, New York congressman
Oh & God save the Queen, oh & the homeless, the sick, the aged, the women, the non-rapist Mexicans, the good Muslims, the Vets, captured as well as not captured, & those willing to stand up to dirty don & his minions & especially those whom his cold heat fills w/ vitriol hatred for, merely for opposing him..
