Large-scale voter fraud is underway in America: Trump

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has repeated his assertion that the 2016 election is rigged, saying a “large-scale voter fraud” is taking place.

Over the last week, Trump has intensified his criticism of the American electoral system. He called the election process rigged, and said the media is colluding with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in order to beat him.

On Monday, Trump called his party leaders naive for denying the vote rigging.  "Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before Election Day," the GOP nominee tweeted.

"Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!" he added.

Many Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, have rejected Trump’s claims, saying such voter fraud is impossible for the November election. They have warned that such allegations could cause unrest.

The White House also denounced Trump’s claim that the presidential election could be “rigged” against him.

“Not at all,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday when asked whether the Obama administration is concerned the election could be stolen from the Republican nominee.

“The president is very confident in election officials in both parties in states all across the country” to ensure the elections are "conducted freely and fairly,” the spokesman said.

A day earlier, Trump strongly questioned the legitimacy of the US elections, saying that he believed the vote was already being "rigged" at many polling places.

"The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary - but also at many polling places - SAD," Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

According to a new poll released on Monday, 41 percent of American voters are now saying the 2016 presidential election could be "stolen" from Trump due to widespread voter fraud.

And 73 percent of Republican voters think the election could be stolen from the billionaire businessman, while 17 percent of Democrats agree with the prospect of rigging.

American writer and political commentator Stephen Lendman told Press TV on Monday Washington has been rigging elections for nearly 200 years in order to keep anti-establishment candidates away from the White House.

He said that voter fraud in America is not a new phenomenon. “It’s a phenomenon that goes back to the early days of the Republic, and I have written a number of times in my articles.”

“I remember an article where I cited elections going back to around 1820 in America – my God almost 200 years ago! – when an election was rigged to ensure that one candidate got into office as president, and the other candidate was defeated,” he added.

Polls suggest that Trump is lagging badly behind as Clinton is widening her lead nationally. A recent survey shows the former secretary of state is leading by 12 percentage points, 50 percent to 38 percent.

However, Trump has rejected the polls as fabricated by media outlets that want to get Clinton elect president at any cost.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk