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Trump is virtually out of time to turn the election in his favor, and it’s becoming clearer how he plans to dispute the results

Tom Porter
Donald Trump leaves after speaking during a Make America Great Again rally at Hickory Regional Airport in Hickory, North Carolina on November 1, 2020. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
  •  President Donald Trump is not projected to win reelection, according to polling one day from Election Day.

  • Over the past few days, the outlines of a plan from Trump and his allies has emerged — to contest the results in ways large and small.

  • Trump has continually, and without evidence, suggested that mail-in ballots are open to fraud and should be discounted.

  • This weekend, reports suggest that he and his allies plan to challenge the results of such ballots down to a granular level.

  • Trump has also floated the idea of prematurely declaring himself the victor.

With Election Day less than 24 hours away, President Donald Trump's causes for optimism are diminishing. 

A slew of polls over the weekend, including authoritative New York Times/Siena College polls, reinforced what has been said for weeks: Trump is trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden in many of the states key to his reelection.

According to the Times poll, victory in several Republican-leaning states in the so-called "Sun Belt" is now within Biden's grasp. 

There is still the chance of a last minute surge in support for Trump. Or maybe, as in 2016, pollsters have badly underestimated Trump's support. 

But these are not possibilities the Trump campaign appears to have much faith in. 

A number of reports over the weekend indicate that Trump will, instead, press to disqualify thousands of ballots  likely cast for his opponent. 

  • In the most explicit declaration of the aggressive legal strategy he will likely deploy after Election Day, Trump on Sunday told reporters: "we're going to go in the night of, as soon as that election is over, we're going in with our lawyers." 

In reponse, attorneys on Biden's campaign will likely vigorously challenge attempts to rule out mail-in ballots. Biden told reporters after a rally on Sunday that Trump "is not going to steal this election."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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