In RNC speech, Trump warns of 'rigged election'

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"This is the greatest scam in the history of politics."

After officially securing the nomination to be his party's choice to face Democrat Joe Biden in the November 3 election, President Donald Trump adopted a grim tone in his first remarks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention, saying without evidence that he could face a "rigged election" and repeated his claim that voting by mail could lead to an increase in fraud.

"They'll be sending them. They'll be dumping them in neighborhoods. There'll be people... people are going to be picking them up. They'll be bribing. They'll be paying off people to grab some... We're going to win this election. The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election. We're going to win this election."

Trump's remarks on Monday came in an unscheduled appearance on the first day of the scaled-back Republican convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, a far smaller event than originally planned. But it still marked a contrast with Democrats, who opted for an almost entirely virtual format instead of gathering in the election battleground state of Wisconsin.

"They didn't go there at all. They didn't do this. We did this out of respect for your state. We didn't do this for any other reason other than respect for the state of North Carolina."

The Republican event will not include speeches from the party's past living president or candidates, including former President George W. Bush and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who voted to convict Trump at the president's impeachment trial in the Senate.

Also absent from the schedule are several Republicans facing close elections in November, including North Carolina's very own Senator Thom Tillis.

Meanwhile, 27 former Republican lawmakers, including former Senator Jeff Flake, endorsed Biden for president on Monday, citing Trump’s "corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and urgent need to get the country back on course" as reasons for backing the Democratic candidate.