Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has reacted to a series of state and national polls showing him losing ground to Hillary Clinton by promoting the conspiracy theory that this fall s presidential election will be  rigged. At a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday, President Obama was asked about the baseless claim, and the President reacted with derision and scorn, apparently disgusted that the idea was even being floated. Of course the election will not be rigged! What does that mean?  Obama said at a news conference at the Pentagon.  That s ridiculous. That doesn t make any sense. The president added Americans should not take Trump s musings on this seriously.  We do take seriously, as we always do,  the president said,  our responsibilities to monitor and preserve the integrity of the voting process. Obama went on to point out that the move by Trump smells of desperation. The President pointed out that a complaint like Trump s is usually made on a schoolyard by children, not someone in the middle of an interview for the most important leadership position in the world. Obama said that those kinds of comments are like a kid complaining about a loss  before the score is even tallied. Trump seems to have gotten the idea from his close ally Roger Stone, the Republican dirty trickster who helped to organize the  Brooks Brothers riot  during the 2000 recount in Florida. Stone and 9/11 conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, a Trump supporter, have promoted the bizarre idea for some time now.The freak-out has come as polls taken after the successful Democratic Convention have shown a major swing in Hillary Clinton s favor. Marist shows Clinton with a 15 percent edge on Trump nationally, while NBC s poll shows her up nine percent. State polls taken in so-called  rust belt  states key to a Trump victory show Clinton ahead in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Other polls also showed her in the lead in Florida and New Hampshire. Without those states, it is unlikely that Trump would have a path to victory.Featured image via Twitter