David Jackson

USA TODAY

Donald Trump says he's confident he'll be president, but in recent days he has repeatedly broached another possible outcome: Losing.

Now trailing Hillary Clinton in a variety polls, the uber-confident Trump has blamed Republican in-fighting, "unfair" media coverage, and the threat of "cheating" as possible reasons for a potential loss in the Nov. 8 general election.

"Can you imagine how badly I'll feel if I spend all of that money ... all of this energy ... all of this time -- and lost?" Trump told supporters during a rally this weekend in Fairfield, Conn., a Democratic-leaning state where Clinton also leads in pre-election polls.

"I will never ever forgive the people of Connecticut," Trump said. "I will never forgive the people of Florida and Pennsylvania and Ohio -- but I love them anyway."

As he warns of a possible loss, Trump and his aides are soliciting an army of poll watchers over the candidate's concerns that the election could be "rigged" for Clinton, and that he could be "cheated" in key states like Pennsylvania. "The only way we can lose, in my opinion -- I really mean this, Pennsylvania -- is if cheating goes on " Trump told supporters Friday in the mid-state city of Altoona.

In urging backers to become poll watchers, Trump said, "go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times."

The plea comes amid a slide in polls since the Republican and Democratic conventions of last month. The Real Clear Politics website average of recent national polls gives Clinton a 6.8 percentage point lead over Trump, 47.8% to 41%.

The businessman-turned-politician is also trailing in states essential to efforts to assemble to the 270 or more electoral votes needed to win the presidency, a group that includes Florida and Ohio as well as Pennsylvania.

Is it Trump or Clinton?

While expressing confidence he will win in the end, Trump has also injected rare expressions of doubt in recent days. "I think we're going to have victory, but we'll see," Trump told CNBC last week. "At the end its either going to work or I'm going to, you know, I'm going to have a very, very nice long vacation."

It's unusual for any candidate to confess the possibility of losing -- much less Trump, who during his successful run to the Republican presidential nomination often described himself as a "winner" who could bring back the United States from repeated defeats in trade and foreign policy. "Candidates and campaigns always deny they are losing, or are likely to lose, as it saps the enthusiasm of their support and dries up fundraising," said Matt Mackowiak, a Texas-based political consultant.

His theory on Trump: "My guess is that the polls are really bothering him, which is why he is lashing out uncontrollably. He now wants us to believe the election is rigged, the media is causing him to lose, and he doesn't care if he does lose."

Republican pollster Frank Luntz said Trump "knows that his actions have consequences -- he just seems unable to take control of those actions."

As a rising number of Republicans announce opposition to Trump, he has also argued that a lack of party unity could contribute to defeat.

Another Trump complaint: Media coverage.

Trump and aides say reporters are distorting comments like the nominee's suggestion that "Second Amendment people" do something about the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency, a comment critics interpreted as an incitement to violence. Critics also jumped on Trump's claim that President Obama is a "founder" of the Islamic State, saying it equated Obama with terrorism.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Trump said: "If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%"

In another post, Trump said: "My rallies are not covered properly by the media. They never discuss the real message and never show crowd size or enthusiasm."

The campaign also says that reporters are playing up Trump's off-the-cuff comments at the expense of his policy pronouncements. The candidate delivered a prepared Teleprompter speech on the economy last week, and plans to speak about the challenges of the Islamic State on Monday.

Less than 90 days before the general election, Trump and aides are also trying to push back on reports of campaign dis-organization and questionable tactics (like spending a campaign day in Connecticut). During his rally in Fairfield, Conn., Trump threatened to yank press credentials of The New York Times after it reported on the campaign's "failing mission to tame Trump's tongue."

Trump spokesman Jason Miller said "whiny, off-the-record naysayers" don't know what's going with the campaign. "The reality is, Mr. Trump is effectively delivering messages of economic growth and defeating radical Islamic terrorism in front of enthusiastic, overflow capacity crowds, while Hillary Clinton takes in-campaign vacations," Miller said.

He added that Trump will continue to used "focused, policy-driven events" in combination with "massive rallies" to push his message of "breaking up the rigged system in Washington."

In his Connecticut speech, Trump joked to supporters that he would "never speak to you again" if loses in November. "We'll see," he added. "I think we're gonna do very well."