Donald Trump said Thursday that even if he loses his presidential race to Hillary Clinton, "it's ok," because he'll return to "a very good way of life."
The Republican nominee has been tripped up by numerous missteps on the campaign trail in recent weeks and faces daunting polling in swing states that he must win to reach the White House.
On CNBC's Squawk Box, Trump doubled down on comments from a day earlier that President Obama was the "founder of ISIS," but he acknowledged the possibility of defeat come November.
"I'm a truth-teller," Trump said. "All I do is tell the truth, and if at the end of 90 days, I've fallen short because I'm somewhat politically correct, even though I'm supposed to be the smart one, and even though I"m supposed to have a lot of good ideas, it's OK. I go back to a very good way of life. It's not what I'm looking to do. I think we're going to have a victory, but we'll see."
Trump, cutting over his interviewer several times, said Clinton had done "many illegal things," pointing to her most recent controversy: Released emails showing a pay-for-play connection between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department while she was secretary of state.
"They tend to have a different standard," Trump said. "If anyone else knocked out 33,000 emails, they would be in a problem like you wouldn't believe ... She got away with it. Frankly, I think it's her single greatest achievement as a politician, getting away with that."