November 3, 2024

Trump tells ABC he expects a winner to be declared election night

WATCH: Trump’s message in the campaign’s final days has been ‘dark’ and ‘divisive’: Jon Karl

In a phone conversation with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl on Sunday morning, Donald Trump said he has "a substantial lead" and predicted the winner of the election will be known by election night.

Karl asked Trump if he thought there was any way he could lose.

"Yeah, I guess, you know," Trump answered. "I guess you could lose, can lose. I mean, that happens, right?" he said. "But I think I have a pretty substantial lead, but, you could say, yeah, yeah, you could lose. Bad things could happen. You know, things happen, but it's going to be interesting."

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As for when he will address the country about the election results, Trump said, "I'll be out there at the right time."

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, speaks during a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseumin Greensboro, N.C., Nov. 02, 2024.

The former president spoke with Karl after another grueling day on the campaign trail that ended shortly before midnight Saturday.

"I don't think anyone's ever done my schedule before," he said, "Big thing is, can the voice hold out?"

He added: "Nobody's ever done what I've done, and they're big rallies and tremendous enthusiasm."

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Trump embarked on a battleground state blitz in the final days of the campaign. After a swing through western states last week, he spoke at rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin on Friday and twice in North Carolina on Saturday with a side trip to Virginia, which he says he can win. After his call with Karl, he was on to rallies Sunday in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.

Citing Brazil-based polling company AtlasIntel, which bills itself as the "most-accurate" pollster in 2020, Trump said he is leading in all seven battleground states.

Asked when he plans to address the country on Election Day, he said, "I'll be out there at the right time.

Trump took issue with Karl's reporting on "Good Morning America" that Trump's message in his rallies is not as disciplined and focused as some of his campaign advisers would like it to be.

"I just watched," Trump told Karl. "You said my message was all over the place. It's not."

Karl pointed out that Trump himself has talked about how his speeches jump from topic to topic, which he calls "the weave."

“Look, the weave got me elected president,” he said. “Yeah, that's one of those things, but, but the weave is a good thing. Nobody else can do it. Very few people can."