COLUMBUS – In a case of unintended political consequences, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s statements that he believes the election has been rigged in favor of Democrat Hillary Clinton could hurt his own chances on Election Day by encouraging his supporters to stay home, at least according to one Ohio Democrat.
Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Niles) says a Trump backer told him he wasn’t planning to vote because the outcome of the election was predetermined.
“Trump, by saying without any shred of evidence, that the election is rigged is really undermining his own support because I think some people who are supportive of him aren’t even going to show up at the polls because he keeps telling them it’s rigged anyway,” said Ryan.
“I think it’s irresponsible.” Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said. “I don’t know why Donald Trump says things like that because it really does undercuts people’s faith in our system and it’s already fragile enough with this presidential race.”
Brown says he has confidence that Ohio’s election will be run “fairly and smoothly.”
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At the end of the second week of early voting in the key battleground state, Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted cast his absentee ballot for Trump Thursday at the Franklin County Board of Elections, but also criticized Trump for his claims that the election is fixed.
“I want our leaders to build confidence in our elections, not undermine or allow people to believe that things aren’t running well when they are,” Husted said, adding that both Trump and Clinton have said publicly that they have confidence in the way elections are conducted in Ohio.
“We, as a swing state, experience a lot of Election Day chaos but we at least have both candidates saying it’s easy to vote here, the election is secure here,” he said.
Polls have indicated a seesaw race in the state. No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio.
Former president Bill Clinton will campaign for his wife in Columbus and Cleveland.
Campaigning in Cincinnati, Springfield and Geneva Thursday, Trump denounced both Hillary and Bill Clinton as creatures of a corrupt political system.