Barack Obama hits out at Trump for lack of commitment to accept election results

Barack Obama has hit out at Donald Trump for not committing that he would accept the results of the Nov elections

Washington, Oct 21: US President Barack Obama slammed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for refusing to commit that he would accept the results of the general elections, saying allegations of voter's fraud and rigging of the elections is "dangerous" and "undermines our democracy".

"When you suggest rigging or fraud, without a shred of evidence, Trump becomes the first major party nominee in the American history to suggest that he will not concede, despite losing the vote, and then says that he will accept the results if he wins, that is not a joking matter," Obama said on Thursday at an election rally in Florida.

"Most of the Republicans have acknowledged that there is no way to rig an election in a country this big. I don't know if Trump has ever been to an actual polling place where you have Democrats and Republicans who are in charge of taking the votes," he said.

Trump's allegations, Obama said, are more than just the usual standard lie. That is dangerous because when you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people's minds about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy.

"Then you are doing the work of our adversaries for them," he said. "Because our democracy depends on people knowing that their vote matters; that those who occupy the seats of power were chosen by the people.

"Even when your preferred candidate loses, even when you are the one who is running and you lose, you have got to see the bigger picture and say that here in America, we believe in democracy, and we accept the will of the people," the president said.

Obama said if there was any rigging, it would be to the disadvantage of the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as many of the battle ground states like Ohio, North Carolina and Nevada have Republican Governors. Trump, he said, has nothing to offer but "anger and grievance and blame."

"His closing argument asks: What do you have to lose? Well, I am here to tell you: Everything. You know how much progress we have made, despite the opposition, despite the forces of discrimination, despite the politics of backlash. And that progress doesn't stop with my presidency. We are just getting started," he said.

"So progress is on the ballot, civility is on the ballot, tolerance is on the ballot, justice is on the ballot, equality is on the ballot, our democracy is on the ballot," Obama said.

PTI