- The Washington Times - Wednesday, October 19, 2016

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday said Donald Trump is “not going to the president of the United States” and that claims of a rigged election are highly irresponsible.

Mr. Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, has increasingly warned to followers to watch out for shenanigans at the polls, though his own campaign manager told MSNBC on Wednesday she doesn’t expect there to be widespread voter fraud this cycle.

Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said voting is a “sacred privilege” and that people like Mr. Trump — though she didn’t cite him by name — are treading on dangerous ground by signaling they might not accept the results on Nov. 8.

“We have never, in the history of our country — as hard-fought as our divisions have been — ever not accepted the results of the election,” she said in a press conference on Capitol Hill.

She also said some voters might be intimidated by calls for increased vigilance at the polls.

“People then decide to stay home,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “What am I going to be subjected to when I go to the polls?”

She said it was good to hear GOP secretaries of state defend the integrity of their ballots.

Mrs. Pelosi, the only woman to have served as House speaker, flatly predicted that Mr. Trump would lose to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

She said Mrs. Clinton will be an effective president, and the fact that she “happens to be a woman is the icing on the cake.”

Mrs. Pelosi also said Democrats have good enough candidates to pick up a number of House seats this cycle, though she didn’t say whether it could gain the net 30 seats needed to reverse the sizable majority that Republicans have held since the tea party wave of 2010.

She said control of the chamber will likely be “within single-digits, either way.”

“We’re good, we’re good … It’s all about the ground,” she said.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

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