Just as new polls show Hillary Clinton with an 11-point lead in the presidential race, Donald Trump took to Twitter on Oct. 16, to allege that the elections will be "rigged" at select polling places come November.
"Polls close, but can you believe I lost large numbers of women voters based on made up events THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Media rigging election," the Republican nominee tweeted, in reference to the recent outpour of sexual assault allegations.
Trump also noted that the media was fixing the election in favor of his opponent. "The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary - but also at many polling places - SAD," he continued. "Election is being rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened into news."
Trump's latest three-part rant is nothing new. During a campaign rally in Ohio in Aug. 2016, Trump alleged that thousands of voters "were turned away purely for their political reasons." He also claimed "voter fraud" could be an issue at some polling areas, although NPR has previously refuted those claims.
Although Trump's rigged conspiracy theories have intensified as the election narrows down on its last 100 days, his running mate, Mike Pence seems to be singing a different tune. During an interview with NBC's Meet The Press on Oct. 16, Pence reportedly said that he and Trump "will absolutely accept the result of the election," in the event they lost in the general polling. So maybe the election won't be fixed after all.
But rigged or not, Trump has stated that he has no plans to back down or back out of the race. As for Voting Day, he's advised his supporters to "call up law enforcement" and "have sheriffs and the police chiefs and everybody watching."
