Once again, Donald Trump is stoking fears among his supporters, suggesting that the only way he could lose the presidential election on Tuesday is through cheating.
This mirrors the claims he made four years ago when Joe Biden defeated him, a loss that Trump and many of his followers still refuse to accept.
"The only thing that can stop us is the cheating," Trump stated.
During an appearance in Arizona, he asserted he was ahead in all seven battleground states crucial to the election, proclaiming, "I'm leading in every single swing state." In a conversation with right-wing host Tucker Carlson, Trump alleged that various instances of fraud had already been uncovered.
However, there is no evidence to support the former president's claims. In fact, the Washington Post reported on Thursday that among those who have already cast their votes, Kamala Harris was leading significantly.
Recent national surveys of early voters give Harris a 19- to 29-point lead over Trump.
Those figures are lower than Biden's during the 2020 election when more U.S. voters cast their ballots early due to the coronavirus, but higher than those seen for Hillary Clinton in 2016, the Washington Post said.
Overall polls show the two neck and neck.
Trump filed dozens of lawsuits after Biden won in 2020, all of which failed in court. On Jan. 6, 2021, his insistence that he won and that his "victory" was stolen from him before a supportive crowd led to the storming of the Capitol in Washington, the seat of the U.S. Congress, by his supporters.
Earlier in the day, Trump filed a lawsuit against U.S. broadcaster CBS, alleging it manipulated an interview with his rival Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris.
Trump is demanding $10 billion in damages and filed the case in a Texas court, seen as a calculated move to ensure the case is assigned to a conservative judge. However, the chances of success are considered low given the U.S. First Amendment, which offers strong freedom of speech protections.
The dispute ignited in early October over an interview with Harris on the popular political program 60 Minutes, during which she was questioned about Israel. CBS aired two different excerpts of her answer on two consecutive days.
That led to Trump's supporters accusing CBS of deliberately portraying Harris in a more favorable light. Trump's lawyers subsequently demanded the release of the full interview transcript, which CBS refused. The broadcaster dismissed the manipulation allegation, stating that segmenting sections of an interview is common to fit the program's time constraints.
U.S. courts have historically granted the media extensive editorial freedoms, especially since the Constitution's First Amendment explicitly safeguards press freedom. CBS emphasized that its editorial decisions are part of journalistic freedom.