US Election: Trump raises spectre of rigged polls 

New York, Nov 4 (IANS) With one day to go before the election, Donald Trump has raised the spectre of a rigged election accusing the Democrats of trying to steal it.  

“They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing”, Trump said on Sunday at a rally in Pennsylvania, referring to moves to extend the polling hours and warned of the possibility of voting machine tampering.

The elections “have to be decided by 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock on Tuesday night,” he said.

“These are crooked people”, he said alluding to the Democrats.

They spend “all this money on machines, and they’re going to say, we may take an extra 12 days to determine (the result). And what do you think happens during that 12 days”, he asked.

He said that he was the only one speaking about the election risk because no one else would.

“And then they accuse you of being a 'theorist'”, he said, ‘“And they want to lock you up.” “The ones that should be locked up are the ones that cheat on these horrible elections that we go through in our country”, he added.

He could be laying the groundwork to contest the validity of the election if he loses.

Still insisting that he was the real winner of the 2020 election, he said that he should have stayed in office.

“We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left,” and added, “I shouldn't have left (the White House) because we did so well”.

Pennsylvania was his first stop on Sunday, before going on to North Carolina and Georgia, states that can determine if he wins.

The three are among the seven swing states that have an inordinate influence on deciding the winner because unlike the other states which are firmly with either party these states can go either way.

Both he and Harris are putting a lot of effort into these states.

Trump has lately been focussing his campaign speeches on the issues of illegal migration, crime, bringing back manufacturing and jobs, and inflation while also going off the teleprompter to add impromptu comments.

In Pennsylvania, he mostly dumped the machines and went extempore.

“I love being off these stupid teleprompters, because the truth comes out” when he speaks spontaneously, he said.

Trump, who has survived two assassination attempts, spoke behind bullet-proof glass with a gap in the direction of the media covering the event.

“To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news”, he said.

Although he would be hit, he added, “I don’t mind that so much”.

It was met with scathing criticism accusing him of promoting violence against the media.

His Spokesperson Steven Cheung said that it was not about harming the media but “was actually looking out for their welfare, far more than his own”.

Trump felt “reporters were in great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield, also”, he added.

At his next two stops, Trump mostly stuck to his campaign's themes, repeating his promise of a “Golden Age” if he is elected and turned to the familiar themes of his campaign.

He is facing criticism over an insult a comedian hurled during his New York rally against Puerto Rico calling it an island of garbage.

In Georgia, Trump attacked the open border policy of the administration of President Joe Biden and Harris that he said had let in murderers and other criminals.

He brought on stage the mother and family of a Puerto Rican woman who had been murdered allegedly by an illegal migrant.

Carmen Ramirez, the mother of the victim, Mimi Rodriguez-Ramirez, said, "I have a 25-year-old daughter with a lot of life and somebody stopped her life. And we have to stop with this and keep going with Donald Trump”.

It was to show he had support among Puerto Ricans and that they like other Latinos were opposed to open borders.

--IANS

al/rad