Trump is threatening US democracy, warns Hillary
AFP
Hillary Clinton excoriated rival Donald Trump as a threat to American democracy Friday for not pledging to honor results of the upcoming presidential election, as the bitter rivals battled for supremacy in battleground states, reports AFP from Cleveland. The 2016 election cycle pitting the Republican nominee against the former secretary of state has turned increasingly toxic, with Trump fueling wild conspiracy theories about vote rigging and Clinton warning that the provocative billionaire was straying into authoritarianism. We know the difference between leadership and dictatorship, and the peaceful transition of power is one of the things that sets us apart, Clinton told a rally in Cleveland, Ohio, one of the key swing states up for grabs on November 8.
Donald Trump refused to say that hed respect the results of this election. By doing that, hes threatening our democracy. Her comments marked a stern rebuke to Trumps bombshell suggestion during their third and final presidential debate that he may not recognize the election resulta surprising rejection of political norms.
Trump, 70, then told a rally crowd that he could launch a legal challenge if Clinton prevails.
His remarks follow weeks of Trump warning about the likelihood of a rigged election including massive voter fraud, despite members of his own party disavowing the comments and Trump earning condemnation from President Barack Obama.
Despite isolated allegations of voter fraud, controversy over the tight 2000 vote and rampant gerrymandering, US elections have been regarded as free and fair.
Invigorated by both her commanding poll numbers and Trumps eyebrow-raising declarations, the candidate vying to become Americas first female president was in Ohio aiming to block Trumps efforts to claim the blue-collar heartland state.
Trump, well aware that no Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio, campaigned in the Buckeye State
Thursday. He is due to head back to the state on Saturday, with running mate Mike Pence.
On Friday, the Manhattan real estate mogul hosted rallies in the battlegrounds of North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Eighteen days. Youre going to look back at this election and say this is by far the most important vote youve ever cast for anyone at any time, Trump told a crowd in Fletcher, North Carolina.
Were fighting this juggernaut... because they have billions of dollars theyve raised, he said of the Clinton campaign, which reportedly has outspent Trump on television advertising in recent months.Trump said he would give the campaign everything he had, right up until the actual vote.
Win, lose or draw... I will be happy with myself, he added. Clinton is narrowly leading in polling in North Carolina, a state Obama won in 2008 but lost to Republican Mitt Romney in 2012.
Clinton and Trump are coming off an evening of stinging humor at a white-tie charity event in New York where they traded jokes and jabs at what has traditionally been a friendly roastand where Trump was booed. The bitterness of the campaign was quickly on display, with Trump calling the 68-year-old Clinton corrupt and jabbing her for disclosures from her campaigns hacked emails.
When you try to sow the seeds of doubt in peoples minds about the legitimacy of our election, that undermines our democracy, Obama said Thursday.
