WASHINGTON Donald Trump appears to have decided that the only way he can lose the November election is if it is stolen from him, thereby putting Republican Party officials in yet another no-win situation.

Either they defend their presidential nominee and impugn the integrity of this countrys balloting, or incur the wrath of millions of his supporters who might believe his unsupported assertion of a rigged election .

So far, the consensus response has been silence.

The top two elected Republicans in the country, House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), both of whom have endorsed Trump, declined to comment. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus spokeswoman, Lindsay Walters, referred questions back to Trump. I would ask the campaign to clarify what they mean, she said.

Trumps campaign did not respond to Huffington Posts requests for clarification. But at a town hall meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, Trump told his audience: Im afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest.

In an appearance on Fox News that aired later, Trump suggested there had been election fraud in 2012, and that it would likely happen again. Im telling you, November 8, wed better be careful because that election is going to be rigged. And I hope the Republicans are watching closely or its going to be taken away from us, he said.

And on Fox News again Tuesday, Trump said that with courts striking down voter ID laws as discriminatory, fraud was even more likely. People are going to walk in there, theyre going to vote 10 times, maybe. Who knows? Theyre going to vote 10 times, Trump said.

The campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton denounced Trumps remarks as irresponsible for a major party nominee. Even for a reflexive conspiracy theorist like Trump, this is pathetic. Its dangerous, too, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said.