Obama tells Trump to 'stop whining' over
rigged election claims
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[October 19, 2016]
By Emily Stephenson and Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON/GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (Reuters)
- U.S. President Barack Obama lacerated Donald Trump on Tuesday over his
repeated assertions that the Nov. 8 election is rigged against him,
telling the Republican presidential candidate to "stop whining and go
try to make his case to get votes."
With opinion polls showing him falling further back against his White
House rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump has intensified his
allegations, although numerous studies have shown that voter fraud in
U.S. elections is rare.
At a campaign rally in Grand Junction, Colorado, Trump continued his
attack, saying, "The press has created a rigged system and poisoned the
minds of the voters."
But he also used his speech to detail a new initiative if elected
president: a constitutional amendment imposing term limits for members
of Congress, six years for members of the House of Representatives, 12
years for members of the Senate.
Obama was asked about Trump's voter fraud assertions on Tuesday at a
joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden following meetings
with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
He responded with a blistering attack on the Republican candidate,
noting that U.S. elections are run and monitored by local officials, who
may well be appointed by Republican governors of states, and saying that
cases of significant voter fraud were not to be found in American
elections.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Obama said there was "no serious" person who would suggest it was
possible to rig American elections, adding, "I'd invite Mr. Trump to
stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes."
Trump, speaking at the Grand Junction rally Tuesday evening, said that
Obama should stop campaigning for "Crooked Hillary" and "get out and
work on jobs and work on the border."
Trump has raised the possibility for weeks of illegal activities that
could tarnish the November election result, citing scant or questionable
evidence, including the possibility of votes being cast by dead people,
and he has urged his supporters to show up at polling locations on
Election Day. He has sharpened his allegations even as Republican
lawyers called his assertions unfounded.
In a report titled "The Truth About Voter Fraud," the Brennan Center for
Justice at New York University School of Law cited voter fraud incident
rates between 0.00004 percent and 0.0009 percent.
An August study by the Washington Post found 31 credible cases of
impersonation fraud out of more than 1 billion votes cast in elections
from 2000 to 2014. Arizona State University studies in 2012 and 2016
found similarly low rates.
In pointed remarks that were part civics lesson, Obama said that if
Trump wins on Nov. 8, "It would be my expectation of Hillary Clinton to
offer a gracious concession speech" and "it would be my job ... and
escort him over to the Capitol, in which there would be a peaceful
transfer of power" at his swearing in.
Trump's vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, took a softer tone
than Trump during a campaign appearance in North Carolina, saying he was
"confident" that the integrity of the election will be ensured.
But Pence added that "in recent years we've had instances, proven
instances of voter fraud."
A number of Republican-led states, citing the need to prevent voter
fraud, have passed laws with stricter identification requirements. But
several have been struck down by courts that ruled they were designed to
hinder minority voting.
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![](../images/101816pics/news_v33.jpg)
President Barack Obama (R) and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House
in Washington, U.S., October 18, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Oct/19/images/ads/current/st_claras_lda_082114.png)
Trump trails Clinton by 7 points in national opinion polls, according to
an average of polls compiled by RealClear Politics.
CONTROVERSIES ECLIPSE POLICY DISCUSSION
Over the last few weeks, Trump, who has never previously run for office,
has been embroiled in one controversy after another, eclipsing policy
issues such as taxes, trade, the economy and national security that
normally dominate the final push in presidential campaigns.
With three weeks left until Election Day and early voting both by mail
and in person already under way in many states, Trump has been grappling
with the fallout from the release earlier this month of a 2005 videotape
in which he was heard bragging about groping women and making other
unwanted sexual advances.
He has said the remarks were just "locker room" talk and has strongly
denied allegations by a string of women who have come forward since the
video emerged to say Trump groped or touched them inappropriately,
denouncing his accusers as liars and fame-seekers.
The controversies will be the backdrop for the third and final of three
presidential debates, to be held on Wednesday evening in Las Vegas.
Trump was widely viewed as having been on the defensive during the first
debate. He appeared to have improved his performance in the second
debate, but according to polling, more voters saw Clinton as the victor.
Wednesday's debate, like the first one, will be a traditional format
with the moderator posing all the questions. Topics chosen by moderator
Chris Wallace include debt and entitlements, immigration, the economy,
the Supreme Court, foreign hot spots, and fitness to be president.
At Tuesday's press conference, Obama also criticized Trump for his
"continued flattery" of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying "it is
out of step with" the country.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Oct/19/images/ads/current/brickey_lda_061314.png)
Trump has praised Putin as a strong leader and on Monday suggested that
if he wins next month he might meet the Russian leader before he is even
sworn in as president.
(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe in Washington and Emily Stephenson in
Colorado Springs, Colorado; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Tim
Ahmann in Washington; Writing by Richard Cowan and Alana Wise; Editing
by Caren Bohan, Leslie Adler and Lisa Shumaker)
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