Will Trump Lose the Election Because Of It Being Rigged?

Trump sets blame for a rigged election on the establishment,the media and the Clinton campaign

In three weeks’ there will be an election between Republican nominee Donald Trump, and his Democratic rival Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. As of this morning the most recent polls show that Clinton has a 4-point lead, within the margin of error, in essence a dead heat.

There is a 50/50 that Trump will be the next president of the United States as of today. While that’s still pretty good, Donald Trump is leaving nothing to chance as he has given himself a reason for failure–claiming that the election is rigged.

This week Trump has begun to really focus on the narrative that should he lose on November 8th to Clinton then it is because the election is “rigged.” He is accusing that the media, political elites from both the Democrats and Republicans, along with the Clinton campaign of working together to defeat him.

Thus drawing the conclusion that should he lose, a Hillary Clinton presidency would not be “legitimate.” So, it seems for the final three weeks and two days of the campaign Trump is telling his large core group of supporters to by into this rigged election narrative.

Above all, Trump is now using the prospect of his loss to undermine faith in democratic institutions. It is a plan that makes a number of Republicans, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan concerned. He issued a statement on Friday through his office hat was at odds with his presidential nominee.

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“Our democracy relies on confidence in election results, and the speaker is fully confident the states will carry out this election with integrity,” Ryan’s press secretary AshLee Strong said in an email to media outlets.

Meanwhile, “It’s one big fix,’’ Trump said this week in Florida “This whole election is being rigged.’’

The Trump team have their surrogates advancing the narrative that an election can indeed be rigged. His top nationally known supporters are pushing the rigging narrative.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) told a crowd this week they (the media) “they are attempting to rig this election.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s supporters are taking his “rigged” system rhetoric and accusations of lying by the media to their implied conclusion: revolt.

Most of the grumblings and musings of rebellion have come from a small but passionate grup of Trump voters. However, Saturday, Trump surrogate and Milwaukee Sheriff David A. Clarke, an elected law official, tweeted that it’s “pitchforks and torches time” with a (stock) photo of an angry mob.

Trump has made similar allegations before, encouraging his supporters to watch the polls on election day to “make sure it’s on the up and up.” His comments seemed specifically aimed at sending his (overwhelmingly white) supporters to “watch” polls in inner-city areas, which have a higher population of black and Hispanic Americans. Trump is actively recruiting poll watchers at rallies and on social media.

Anger and hostility were the most overwhelming sentiments at a Trump rally’s around the country last week, a deep sense of frustration, an us-versus-them mentality, and a belief that they are part of an unstoppable and underestimated movement. Unlike many in the country, however, these hard-core Trump followers do not believe the real estate mogul’s misfortunes are of his own making.

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They believe what Trump has told them over and over, that this election is rigged, and if he loses, it will be because of a massive conspiracy to take him down.

Backing the Trump narrative is the fact that at a time when trust in government and the media is at a low point, Trump is actively pushing the idea that a core tenet of American democracy is also in peril. Trump and his some of his supporters now fear that you can no longer trust what happens at the ballot box.

Some of his supporters have openly said they plan to go to their local precincts to look for illegal immigrants who may attempt to vote. They are worried that Democrats will load up buses of minorities and take them to vote several times in different areas of the city. They’ve heard rumors that boxes of Clinton votes are already waiting somewhere. None of this has any validity at least at this point in time, but this is yet another case of never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

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Even some very extreme supporters feel that if Trump doesn’t win, there well could be some sort of a violent rebellion and even assassination attempts, as fantastical and unhinged as that may seem.

Many people saw the video of an extreme Trump supporter who was proud to give his idea’s what should happen if his candidate loses.

Trump’s campaign has taken a sharp turn toward such dark warnings in recent days. He says he is a victim of conspiracies, portrays himself as a martyr to the cause of the right wing, and is stoking anger in advance of what may be a defeat on Nov. 8.

Let’s be clear that the Trump campaign is not promoting violence in anyway shape or form.

“We reject violence in any form and will not allow it to be a part of our campaign,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “Those who hold unacceptable views do not represent the millions of Americans who are tired of the rigged Washington system that will make their voices heard at the ballot box on Nov. 8.”

 

 

 

 

Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.