Making an unprecedented assertion, Republican party presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he fears the upcoming presidential election "is going to be rigged".
"I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest," Trump said yesterday during a town hall in Columbus, Ohio.
The 69-year-old White House hopeful who emerged as the winner of a tough Republican presidential primary of 17 candidates claimed his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton had to fight only against Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont.
"I had 17 people. I wasn't running against two people. I had 17 people. I got a similar number to Hillary Clinton, and she had Bernie and she had a hard time putting Bernie away, and Bernie, poor Bernie. He looked so upset. You know what, he made a mistake. He shouldn't have made a deal. He lost, he lost," Trump said.
"First of all, it was rigged, and I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest. Because I think my side was rigged, if I didn't win by massive landslides, I mean, think of what we won in New York and Indiana, California, 78 percent. That's with other people in the race," he said.
"But think of it. I hear more and more that the election on November 8, can you believe, we're almost there. This started on June 16 of last year and I said, wow, let's go do it. Takes guts to do this, believe me. And everybody said no, it takes guts. I could be having a very nice life right now. I don't have to be with you people, ranting and raving. Could have a very nice life," he added.
Trump's comments against father of a slain Pakistani-origin American Muslim soldier has drawn major criticism with his own party leaders coming out openly against the Republican presidential nominee.
While House Speaker Paul Ryan said a "religious test" for entering the US is "not reflective of the country's fundamental values", former Florida Governor Jeb Bush termed remarks as "disrespectful" in targetting a family that endured the "ultimate sacrifice" for the country.
Clinton also slammed Trump for his "absolute allegiance" to Russia that raises "national security" concerns, prompting him to deny having any "relationship" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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"The City of Philadelphia has lost more than 1 in 3 of its manufacturing jobs since China joined the World Trade Organisation - another Bill and Hillary-backed deal," he said, adding that a Trump Administration will renegotiate NAFTA, and "stand up" to foreign product dumping, currency manipulation and unfair subsidy behaviour.
"We are going to bring manufacturing and jobs, lots of jobs, back to Pennsylvania. We are going to open modern mines, and take care of our great miners. We will be producing clean coal, oil, natural gas and shale energy.
"We're also bringing back our steelworkers, whose jobs have been stolen by the dumping of steel all over this state and country by China, and other countries. Nobody has been treated worse than these workers, but that will change on January 20th of next year," Trump said.
He said in order to accomplish these goals, America must cut its ties with the "small, bitter and petty politics of the past".
"We must declare our independence from a failed establishment that has squandered USD 6 trillion on foreign wars in the Middle East that never end and that we never win and that have made us less safe. They've left our borders wide open at home, and shipped our jobs and wealth to other countries," he alleged.
Meanwhile, women and immigrants voiced strong support for the 70-year-old reality TV star at the rally, rejecting the Republican Presidential nominee's 'portrayal' as racist and anti-immigrant and saying his policies will boost American trade and stop illegal immigration in the country.
Women made up a majority of the crowd at the rally, cheering Trump, who has faced severe backlash from various quarters over his treatment of women.
Among those at the rally was a group of immigrants from China, who stood out at the event with their T-shirts with the words 'Chinese-Americans Love Trump'.
Nick Xu, among the Chinese-American supporters at the rally, said he had been campaigning for Trump for several months now and strongly rejected his portrayal by the media as racist and anti-immigrant.
"The media has distorted the truth by portraying Trump as a racist and against immigrants. That is not true. He is not a racist and he is in favour of legal immigration, he only wants to stop illegal immigration, which is common sense," Nick told
