“We are leading in the polls, in all the polls,” former President Donald Trump told multiple rallies last week, laying the groundwork for election denial and calling on his supporters to make their turnout “too big to manipulate.”

The Republican candidate for president has played the role of braggart in the weeks leading up to the election, insisting — amid the semi-coherent talk that has made up his marathon speeches — that he is poised for a resounding victory despite polls showing a toss-up . race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Sunday something changed.

Trump and his top campaign manager appeared to crack, suspending the defiant tone in an abbreviated moment when they acknowledged for once that losing was on the table.

“I think you could lose, you could lose,” Trump said told ABC News in a telephone interview. “I mean, that happens, right? But I think I have a pretty substantial lead, but you could say, yeah, yeah, you could lose. Bad things can happen. You know, things happen, but it’s going to be interesting.

Susie Wiles, his co-campaign manager, made the admission in a much more hush-hush manner than her outspoken boss.

In an internal campaign memo obtained by Axios – titled “Donald J. Trump Administrative Update” – Wiles used multiple phrases – “must we prevail,” “regardless of the outcome of the election” and “God willing” – while acknowledging that the campaign could fall short come.

The purpose of Wiles’ memo was to lay out the mundane administrative task of winding down campaign activities once the election is over, but the tone could hardly be more at odds with Trump’s general attitude, which includes musing that polls showing he doesn’t like, should be. are illegal.

If he loses, don’t expect a quick concession: The Republican National Committee had raised $90 million for recounts as of September 30, Federal Election Commission records show.