Hillary Clinton's press secretary Brian Fallon said the campaign is preparing for a "very tight general-election contest" against Donald Trump. | AP Photo Clinton's camp says it's bracing for 'very tight' race against Trump

Though Republicans who refuse to support Donald Trump have suggested the presumptive GOP presidential nominee would get slaughtered by Hillary Clinton in November, the Democratic front-runner's campaign claims it is bracing for a “very tight” race.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell about the campaign’s dual contest as Clinton tries to fend off Bernie Sanders all the way through the Democratic National Convention this summer while also focusing more on Trump, press secretary Brian Fallon said this is what the campaign expected.


“We've planned for this. After the contests on April 26 where we had decisive victories in many of those Mid-Atlantic states, we began undertaking general-election preparations because we need to be ready to wage what we think will be a very tight general-election contest,” Fallon said.

To that effect, a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Clinton and Trump virtually tied in key battleground states. Clinton narrowly leads Trump in Florida (43 percent to 42 percent) and Pennsylvania (43 percent to 42 percent) but trails in Ohio (39 percent to 43 percent). Dating back to 1960, no presidential candidate has ever won an election without winning at least two of the three swing states.

“We've started placing staff on the ground in some of the states that have already held primaries,” Fallon continued. “At the same time, though, we're gonna be continuing to honor this primary all the way through the middle of June. Hillary Clinton is continuing to visit states that are holding primary contests, including today in New Jersey. So we’re gonna fight for every vote in the primary at the same time that we do what it takes to get ready to take on Donald Trump.”

