Washington (CNN)Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Monday that should the Republican presidential nominee lose he would accept the results of the election only if there was no “overwhelming evidence” of fraud.
“Mr. Trump would, if there’s absent overwhelming evidence of any kind of fraud or irregularities,” Conway told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on the “Situation Room.”
She continued: “Yes, I know where this conversation is going in part, maybe not by you but by others, Wolf, who go by the same path, you know, will people be violent? Will they not accept the result? The only violence I saw the last day was perpetrated on a Republican headquarters in North Carolina. Somebody firebombed it, I doubt it was a Republican.”
Over the weekend a GOP office in Hillsborough, North Carolina, was firebombed and vandalized, spray-painted with a swastika and the words “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else” on an adjacent building, according to local officials.
Trump — without evidence — blamed the firebombing on Clinton supporters on Sunday night.
“Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina just firebombed our office in Orange County because we are winning @NCGOP,” Trump tweeted.
“Well that’s his position,” Conway said when asked by Blitzer about Trump’s tweet. “But again, CNN for a week now plus has been covering things as if there is evidence. You’ve had accusers with their allegations.”
Conway was referencing the accusations of sexual assault against Trump that have come after release of a video of Trump captured on a hot mic talking about women in a sexually aggressive and lewd way.
Conway said that if “women want to lodge their complaints, they have avenues to do that.”
When asked to follow up on that specific remark, Conway said: “I’m not encouraging anyone to (go to court).”
Trump on women’s appearances
Conway told Blitzer she wouldn’t have said the things Trump did about the looks of the women accusing him of misconduct. Trump, who has denied all the accusations, said last Thursday about one woman: “Take a look, you take a look, look at her, look at her words — you tell me what you think. I don’t think so.”
“I would not characterize it that way. I would not say those things,” Conway said. “But he is very frustrated. And he has a right to speak his mind.”
Slightly ahead in Ohio
In a new CNN/ORC poll on the battleground state in Ohio, Trump is slightly ahead with 48% support of likely voters, while 44% support Clinton and 4% behind Johnson.
In the other battleground state polls released Monday, Clinton leads Trump in North Carolina and Nevada.
“Well, we’re thrilled to see those battleground polls from CNN,” Conway said about the new poll. “We know the Trump campaign is still important.”
She said the poll shows that voters are “seeing through” the media coverage of Trump.
“They will not be fooled by what they’re told is important to them this election,” she said. “They are going to vote based on the issues and based on their own independent characterizations of these two candidates.