'Stop Whining,' President Obama Advises Donald Trump

At this point, President Obama is clearly just plain fed up with Donald Trump. If that hasn't been obvious in Obama's comments over the past week or so, you should have heard him Tuesday.

"I'd advise Mr. Trump to stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes," Obama said from the White House, calling out the Republican presidential nominee during a joint news conference alongside Italy's prime minister.

The president's suggestion comes less than three weeks before the Nov. 8 election and in the midst of escalating allegations from the Republican nominee that the election is "rigged," plagued by rampant voter fraud systemic enough to explain away any eventual loss at the polls. Trump has yet to offer any evidence to back his claims.

Trump has ratcheted up his stolen-election rhetoric at the same time national polls increasingly point to a Hillary Clinton win. The Democrat holds 47.7 percent support compared to 42.2 percent for The Donald, according to an average of head-to-head polls recently compiled by RealClear Politics. Some recent polls show her up by as much as 9 to 11 points.

Even as Republican running mate Mike Pence offered assurances their ticket "will absolutely accept the result of the election," Trump has kept up the rhetoric.

“There is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America’s elections, in part because they’re so decentralized and the numbers of votes involved,” Obama said Tuesday. “There’s no evidence that that has happened in the past or that there are instances in which that will happen this time."

American democracy survives, he added, "because we recognize that there's something more important than any campaign, and that is making sure that the integrity and trust in our institutions sustains itself."

"Democracy, by definition, works by consent, not by force," he said. "I have never seen, in my lifetime or in modern political history, any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place. It's unprecedented. It happens to be based on no facts."

The implications of Trump's rhetoric are "irresponsible," Obama said, and "do not show the kind of leadership and toughness that you'd want out of a president."

"You start whining before the game's even over? If whenever things are going badly for you and you lose, you start blaming somebody else? Then you don't have what it takes to be in this job," Obama told reporters, gesturing to the White House behind him.

Read more from Patch:

• Trump's Call for a Flood of Poll Watchers Could Disrupt Some Voting Places
• Poll: 41 Percent of Voters Say Election Could Be 'Stolen' From Donald Trump, As He Ramps Up 'Rigged' Election Rhetoric

Photo via CSPAN