Poll: Nearly Half Of Trump Supporters Don't Believe Their Vote Will Be Counted
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Donald Trump is calling Republican leaders "naive'' for dismissing his claims of a rigged election and urging his supporters to "come together and win this election" as many of his supporters don't believe their vote will be counted.
His comments came in a series of tweets Monday.
"Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day," he said in one tweet. "Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!''
In a later tweet, Trump said: "Voter fraud! Crooked Hillary Clinton even got the questions to a debate, and nobody says a word. Can you imagine if I got the questions?"
There is no evidence voter fraud is a widespread problem in the United States. House Speaker Paul Ryan says he is confident the election will be conducted with integrity.
In an another tweet Monday, Trump said: "We have all got to come together and win this election. We can't have four more years of Obama (or worse!)."
On Sunday, Trump's running mate, Mike Pence said Trump's claims of a rigged election refer to media bias.
"The American people feel like, in a very real sense, that the Democratic party and many of you in the media are working together to prevent the kind of change the American people long to see of a stronger and more prosperous America."
COMPLETE CAMPAIGN 2016 COVERAGE
But he said, "We will absolutely accept the results of the election.''
Not long after Pence said that, Trump partly undermined his comments. In a tweet Sunday, Trump said, "The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary - but also at many polling places.''
Meanwhile, the latest CBS News Battleground Tracker shows Hillary Clinton with a six-point lead over Trump, 46 to 40 percent, across 13 battleground states. Clinton and Trump were tied in those states a month ago, CBS News reported.
Last month, Clinton had 45 percent of the female vote in these key states, but today, it's at 51 percent. Trump, meanwhile, took a dip from 40 percent to 36 percent of women in those states.
"Trump has lost support among women, among Republican women as well," said Anthony Salvanto, CBS News elections director. "So it goes beyond partisanship a little bit. And the poll finds that 70 percent of voters feel that now that Donald Trump does not respect women, what could be trouble for him going forward are these moderate and Republican women are precisely the kind of voters that he needs now to start winning."
CBS2's Dick Brennan reports another poll shows nearly half of Trump supporters don't believe their vote will be counted. Those numbers drop for Democrats.
Clinton's campaign released a commercial likening Trump to famous movie bullies.
"It's a guy who is whining because he's a big bully who is getting beaten and now he's starting to whine," said Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine.
It seems that the 2005 "Access Hollywood" video where Trump was heard making lewd comments about women may have been the catalyst, CBS News reported. Seventy percent of women said they found it offensive.
Ten women have since come forward in recent days accusing Trump of harassment or sexual assault, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
Monday morning, women lined up outside Trump Tower with signs that read "Divider in Chief" and "Trump Demeans Women," 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
Terry O'Neill, the president of the National Organization for Woman, called Trump an embarrassment.
"We will not tolerate his talk about sexually assaulting women," she said. "We will not tolerate his talk about insulting women and demeaning women. We will tolerate him as president of the United States."
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney also attended the rally.
"It makes him feel bigger to make women feel smaller," she said.
And Public Advocate Letitia James had her own message for Trump.
"This is 2016 and not 1816 and that women do not exist to look good for him," she said.
In earlier tweets Monday, Trump said he can't believe allegations of sexual assault are affecting his campaign and he pointed to Vice President Joe Biden as he defended himself.
Biden has never been accused of sexual improprieties, but he has raised eyebrows during media events for his lingering embraces of women.
Trump linked Monday to a video montage of Biden's awkward moments. He also tweeted: "Can't believe these totally phoney stories, 100% made up by women (many already proven false) and pushed big time by press, have impact!''
Meanwhile, Clinton's camp is facing yet another embarrassing trove of hacked emails released by WikiLeaks, including some believed to be from her campaign chairman John Podesta discussing how her failure to express remorse for her private email server would hurt her.
The CBS News Battleground Tracker shows that 55 percent of voters polled think Clinton has different motives in private than in public and only 33 percent believe she tells the truth.
Kaine alleged Russian hackers are trying to sway the election.
"Anybody who is going to try to cyber-attack and then try to destabilize an election, you can't trust that they're going to maintain scrupulous honesty about the content of what they're dumping out for the world to see," he said.
Clinton is still battling her own negatives on trust, and more questions about the use of her primate email server when she was secretary of state.
Republican congressional leaders said FBI documents show State Department Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy contacting an FBI official in 2015 to dispute the classification of a Clinton email about Benghazi, which was reclassified to "secret." The bureau official then asked Kennedy about a request for more FBI slots overseas at U.S. missions.
The FBI said the classification was not changed and denied Republican claims this was evidence of quid pro quo, or a deal.
New polls show very tight races in the swing states of Nevada and North Carolina, as Trump holds a four-point lead in Ohio.
On Saturday night, the Republican party headquarters in Hillbourough, North Carolina was firebombed and the building next door was spray-painted with the words: "Nazi Republicans leave town or else.''
A state Republican official called the attack "political terrorism'' and Trump is blaming Clinton and her supporters, though there isn't any evidence yet as to was behind the incident.
On Twitter, Clinton called the attack "horrific" and "unacceptable."
The attack on the Orange County HQ @NCGOP office is horrific and unacceptable. Very grateful that everyone is safe.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 16, 2016
Hillsborough Police Chief Duane Hampton said in an email that nothing developed overnight as the investigation continues.
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