Trump actually acknowledges that he could lose the election

“We’re leading big in the polls, all the polls,” former President Donald Trump told several rallies last week as he laid the groundwork for voter denial, exhorting his supporters to make their turnout “too big to rig.”

The Republican presidential candidate has spent the weeks leading up to the election playing the role of braggart, insisting — between the semi-coherent ramblings that make up his marathon speeches — that he is poised for a landslide victory, despite polls showing a deficit race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Sunday, something changed.

Trump and his top campaign manager appeared to crack, suspending that defiant tone for a brief moment in which, for once, they acknowledged that defeat is on the table.

“I think you can lose, can lose,” Trump told ABC News in a telephone interview. “I mean, it happens, right? But I think I have a pretty significant lead, but you can say, yeah, yeah, you can lose. Bad things could happen. You know, things happen, but it’s going to be interesting .”

Susie Wiles, his co-campaign manager, made the acknowledgment in a much more tacit manner than her unvarnished boss.

In an internal campaign memo achieved by Axios — titled “Donald J. Trump Administrative Update” — Wiles used several phrases — “should we win,” “regardless of the outcome of the election” and “God willing” — and acknowledged that the campaign could come up short .

The purpose of Wiles’ memo was to outline the arduous administrative task of winding down campaign operations once the election is over, but the tone could hardly be more opposite to Trump’s general stance, which has included musing that polls he doesn’t like should be illegal.

If he loses, don’t expect a quick concession: The Republican National Committee had raised $90 million a year. September 30 for recount efforts, according to to Federal Election Commission applications.