Donald Trump supporters are not willing to go gently, even threatening to raise weapons, should the GOP nominee lose the November election to Hillary Clinton.
Recent reports suggest his faithful are beginning to worry what will happen after Nov. 8.
“On November 8th, I’m voting for Trump. On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket. You in?” former Republican congressman Joe Walsh tweeted Wednesday.
The politician-turned-radio host has made inflammatory comments in the past including telling President Barack Obama to “watch out” in July after five police officers were killed in Dallas. He later clarified he was talking about acts of “civil disobedience.”
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The New York Times reported Thursday that many of his supporters believe the U.S. may be headed for violent conflict.
“People are going to march on the capitols,” Jared Halbrook, 25, told the Times. “They’re going to do whatever needs to be done to get her out of office because she does not belong there.”
The Boston Globe reported last week that anger and hostility could be seen boiling over at a Trump rally in Cincinnati amid concerns the election is “rigged” against him.
“If she’s in office, I hope we can start a coup. She should be in prison or shot. That’s how I feel about it,” Dan Bowman, 50, told the Globe.
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And despite the fact there is no evidence the election is rigged against the Republican nominee, a new poll from the Associated Press-GfK found just 35 per cent of Trump’s supporters are likely to accept the election results as legitimate if Clinton wins. Another 64 per cent say they’re more likely to have serious doubts about the accuracy of the vote count if Trump doesn’t win.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Trump has repeatedly questioned the integrity of the U.S. election system as polls have soured against him.
WATCH: Donald Trump calls the U.S. election ‘rigged’
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‘The system is totally rigged’: Trump continues attack on US electoral process -
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‘All we want is a fair fight’: Donald Trump Jr. continues pushing notion of ‘rigged’ election -
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Trump continues to call election rigged; says voters’ minds are being ‘poisoned’ -
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Trump says the whole election is ‘rigged’ -
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Is the U.S. election rigged? Assessing Trump’s language in the campaign -
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‘Phoney allegations, media bias and rigged system’ not hampering Trump votes -
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Donald Trump tweets about rigged election and media conspiracy -
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Trump calls debates ‘rigged’, has ‘no respect’ for organizers -
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Trump fears presidential campaign will be rigged -
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Donald Trump calls system ‘rigged’ after FBI’s decision on not charging Hillary Clinton -
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‘It’s not meant for a guy like me’: Trump on ‘rigged’ system -
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‘It’s a totally corrupt, rigged system’: Trump says Colorado was rigged against him -
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Trump makes election campaign history with allegations of rigging, comments about election outcome -
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Trump claims media is helping Clinton ‘rig’ election
Ryan Hurl, assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said while there have been threats of violence if Trump loses there is a big difference between saying something and doing something.
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Hurl says the amped up rhetoric from a candidate like Trump has fuelled some more extreme supporters.
And as Trump continues to make unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, he’s also appeared unwilling to accept the election results if he loses.
“We are in danger of missing that really amazing moment in a democracy when the loser of an election gives a concession speech and says to his supporters ‘we lost this time, go home, we’ll try again next time,’” Hurl said. “Sometimes people don’t realize how fragile that is.”
*With files from the Associated Press
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