Donald Trump and his allies yesterday stepped up claims that the US election is being rigged against him, as a new poll showed the Republican presidential candidate drifting further behind his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
Mr Trump said on Twitter that the US media was engaged in a co-ordinated effort with the Clinton campaign to undermine his prospects at the polls by running what he claimed were untrue stories of sexual misconduct.
Newt Gingrich, a Trump backer and former House speaker, said on ABC News that without the media's "unending one-sided assault", Mr Trump would be 15 points ahead. He added that voters should monitor polling stations, as Mr Trump has repeatedly urged, because elections have been "stolen" in the past.
However, Mike Pence, Mr Trump's running mate, yesterday told NBC News the campaign would "absolutely accept the result of the election".
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Mrs Clinton leading Mr Trump by 11 points nationwide as he is dragged down by a steady stream of sexual allegations. As a two-way race, Mrs Clinton has a 20-point lead among women, while Mr Trump is ahead among men by three points, the poll showed.
A separate ABC/Washington Post poll put the contest far closer, with Mrs Clinton at 47 per cent and Mr Trump at 43 per cent.
Democratic process
Mr Trump has for months been suggesting there could be cheating at polling stations, in words that have worried political leaders who fear damage could be done to the democratic process and that Mr Trump is whipping up a dangerous mood among supporters.
However, over the weekend Mr Trump focused his fire on the media, suggesting they were in cahoots with the Clinton campaign to rob him of the election by putting out stories alleging he had groped women. “Election is being rigged by the media, in a co-ordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened into news,” he tweeted yesterday morning.
In New Hampshire on Saturday Mr Trump told a crowd: "Remember, it's a rigged system. It's a rigged election." He also said that he and Mrs Clinton should take a drug test before their final debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday, suggesting without putting forward evidence that his opponent had been "pumped up" at the start of the last debate but had run out of steam.
Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, yesterday decried what he said were "wild claims, kind of scorched-earth tactics" by Mr Trump.
Mr Kaine called on GOP leaders to “stand up for the integrity of the American electoral process”. - (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016)