Thumbs down: Donald Trump's charges of ‘rigged' election

An impartial observer might conclude that Donald Trump’s recent slide in the polls is a product of his own behavior, such as his bragging in a 2005 video about his prowess in making unwanted sexual advances toward women. This was followed almost immediately by a string of allegations by women claiming that he had done exactly that.

But not Trump. If he loses the election three weeks from today, which now appears likely, he claims there is only one reasonable explanation. The system is rigged. “Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before Election Day. Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!” the GOP presidential nominee said in Tweet early Monday. This was in response to leaders from his own party, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, who were trying to distance themselves from Trump and repudiating his claims of election corruption.

Given the thousands of government agencies and millions of people needed to hold an election, the extent of conspiracy that would be required in order to rig a presidential election is hard to fathom. But there doesn’t seem to be much fathoming going on in the Trump campaign these days. Nonetheless, his allegations are no longer just frivolous. They appear to be fanning the flames of rancor, and some fear it could trigger violence on Election Day if the results aren’t what his supporters desired. Let’s hope in the final debate on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, starting at 6 p.m. PST, Trump will back down on his assertions of fraud - or be pressed to provide evidence to back them up. So far, he has done neither.