Trump Says the Election Process is Unfair

Kaitlin interviews a Trump supporter at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

At a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 15, Republican Donald Trump told thousands of supporters that the presidential election process is unfair. The Republican candidate, who is trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton in the polls, repeated the claim several times without offering evidence.

“The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing completely false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect her president,” Trump said at the Portsmouth rally.

Republican leaders and election officials from both parties have warned that Trump's comments may lead people to doubt the integrity of the election process. Jon A. Husted, the secretary of state of Ohio and a Trump supporter, said that Trump was “wrong and engaging in irresponsible rhetoric [talk].”

Today, President Barack Obama expressed his own concerns. “I’d invite Mr. Trump to stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes,” Obama said. “I have never seen, in my lifetime or in modern political history, any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place.”

PASSIONATE SUPPORTERS

In recent weeks, Trump has been accused of inappropriate treatment of women. He has denied those claims, which he says are being used to discredit him. Despite the controversy, thousands of enthusiastic supporters turned out on Saturday.

“I am going to fight for every citizen of every background, from every stretch of this nation, and I am going to fight to bring us all together as Americans,” Trump told the crowd.

A supporter from Boston, Massachusetts, who did not want to give her name, said that she likes Trump because “he honors the flag, he honors our veterans, and he puts America first.”

Donald Trump addresses supporters at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Throughout the campaign, Trump and his supporters have engaged in personal attacks against Secretary Clinton. They did so again at the Portsmouth rally. Before Trump took the stage, the crowd chanted, “Lock her up! Lock her up!”

Trump says that Clinton should be imprisoned because of her mishandling of emails as Secretary of State. Clinton has apologized for those errors, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found no evidence that she intended to violate the law.

Trump and Clinton will go head to head in their third and final debate on October 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Voters around the country will then have their say when they go to the polls on November 8.