He has griped openly about a “rigged” political system, saying Wednesday he has “no respect” for the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates and complaining about a “defective” microphone in the first debate.
And on Monday, at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., he worried the election could be “stolen” from him and singled out Philadelphia, a city with a large African-American population, warning, “We have to make sure we’re protected.”
Mr. Trump’s ominous claims of a “stolen election” — which he often links to black, urban neighborhoods — are not entirely new. But in recent days, he has been pressing the theme with …show more content…
OCT 13
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The assertions - which coincide with Mr. Trump’s decline in the polls in the wake of a shaky first debate performance and accusations he forced himself on women - highlight concerns that he may not accept a Clinton victory, breaking from the traditional decorum of defeated presidential candidates and undermining the legitimacy of the election result.
At rallies in recent days, Mr. Trump has become a candidate seething with excuses, perhaps the clearest manifestation of his frustration with his current standing in the polls and the growing alarm within his campaign that a White House victory is slipping away.
On Monday, on a trip through Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump began the day urging the almost entirely white crowd outside Pittsburgh to show up to vote, warning about “other communities” that could hijack his