Donald Trump stomps all over Mike Pence’s attempts to soften his claims that the US election is rigged
Donald Trump is probably giving his running mate Mike Pence quite the headache.
Pence had been trying to dampen Trump's latest incendiary comments about a "rigged" election, saying Trump was just referring to media bias, and emphasising they would "absolutely accept the result of the election".
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Trump gave it a few hours before taking to Twitter to make clear that no, he did actually think voter fraud was a significant threat to the election's legitimacy.
The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary – but also at many polling places – SAD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016
Trump’s adviser Rudy Giuliani has also accused the Democrats of “cheating”, though Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine has dismissed Trump’s election-rigging claims as “scare tactics”.
Two new polls painted two very different pictures of the current state of affairs in the US election. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll had Clinton's lead at 11 points among likely voters – at 48 per cent support, compared to 37 per cent for Trump.
It stated that Clinton has extended her lead by winning over women and swing voters (with a 20 point lead among women voters).
A Washington Post/ABC News poll though says that while enthusiasm for Trump is diminishing among his supporters, Clinton only holds a four point lead among likely voters, marking a small increase on the two point lead she held before the first presidential debate.
On Friday, political spread betting firm Sporting Index had predicted Clinton was set for a landslide victory on 8 November with 327 electoral college votes. It has Trump down to pick up 23 states and 211 electoral college votes.
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Trump's campaign has been fuelled by controversy throughout. The latest scandal involving a tape where Trump speaks of groping women without their consent and the following allegations accusing him of sexual harassment, led to a trail of Republicans abandoning him as their candidate.