Trump campaign doubles down on rigging claims

Given the president's background with the “Chicago machine,” Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Friday, he was surprised to hear Barack Obama’s incredulous response to the notion that November’s presidential election might be rigged.

Trump has long been fond of suggesting that the “system” is hostile to him in favor of both his Republican primary opponents and now Hillary Clinton. But the Manhattan billionaire took those allegations to a new level this week, suggesting for the first time that the general election itself will be “rigged” against him.


Asked about Trump’s fear of election rigging during a Thursday press conference at the Pentagon, the president said, “Of course the election will not be rigged” and dismissed the GOP nominee’s claims as little more than a “conspiracy theory.” An exasperated Obama continued that Trump’s allegation of election rigging “doesn’t make any sense. I don’t think anybody would take that seriously.”

“For someone whose career got jump-started by the Chicago machine, I was surprised to hear him say that,” Manafort responded in a Fox News interview Friday morning. “You know, frankly, we think that the situation in the country, just like with the Democratic National Committee’s primaries, is a situation where if you’re relying on the Justice Department to ensure the security of the elections, we have to be worried.”

At his Pentagon press conference, the president went on to suggest that instead of complaining that the election would be rigged, Trump should instead focus on winning it. Obama said he had never heard of someone complaining of cheating “before the game was over” and suggested, “If Mr. Trump is up 10 or 15 points on Election Day, and then loses, then I think maybe he can raise some questions.”

“The election is in November,” Manafort responded. “If he’s putting the election to bed today, then he’s the one who’s going to be surprised.”