Donald Trump previewed a possible excuse for a general election loss Monday, saying he thinks it is going to be “rigged.”

“I’m afraid the election’s going to be rigged, I have to be honest,” Trump said at a rally in Columbus, Ohio Monday afternoon, after talking about Bernie Sanders and the Democratic primary.

The “rigged system” drumbeat is one Trump hit repeatedly during the primary season, first against the Republican establishment and, more recently, about the Democratic Party, to try to win over Sanders supporters who felt their candidate did not have a fair shake against Hillary Clinton. (Sanders backers grew even more concerned after leaked Democratic National Committee emails showed leadership favoring Clinton.) By turning now to say he believes the general election could also be unfairly favorable to Clinton, Trump is laying the groundwork to fuel his supporters’ fury if he loses on Nov. 8.

With less than 100 days until election day, Trump said, “Can you believe we’re almost there?”

Monday’s Ohio appearance was Trump’s first since a feud erupted between him and the Khans, the family of a fallen Muslim soldier. Trump did not reference the controversy in his speech.

Get our Politics Newsletter. The headlines out of Washington never seem to slow. Subscribe to The D.C. Brief to make sense of what matters most. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.berenson@time.com.