President Barack Obama is concerned about possible outbreaks of violence if Republican Donald Trump loses the Nov. 8 presidential election.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday that Obama believes there is no place in American democracy for anyone using violence to advance a political goal.
Trump has been making unsubstantiated claims that the 50-state election system is “rigged” against him and in favour of Democrat Hillary Clinton. That has prompted fears about how some of his supporters might react if Trump doesn’t accept an electoral defeat.
Last Sunday, Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, said the Republicans will “absolutely accept the results of the election.”
READ MORE: Mike Pence says Donald Trump will accept results of the election
But on Monday, Trump tweeted that he believes “there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day. Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!”
Trump has faced repeated criticism throughout the presidential campaign for inflammatory comments made during rallies and in the media that some believe could lead – or have already led – to violence.
The Republican nominee has repeatedly called for protesters to be forcibly removed from campaign events, suggesting he’d like to punch them in the face or that the crowd should “knock the crap” out of them.
WATCH: Obama tells Donald Trump to ‘stop whining’ about election rigging
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