In the final hours of one the most polarizing U.S. presidential campaigns in recent history, conservative political commentator Conrad Black is abandoning his prediction that Republican nominee Donald Trump will “mop the floor” with his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House.

The former media mogul has defended the bombastic New York billionaire throughout a rocky campaign fraught with allegations of sexual assault, lewd remarks about women, and racially charged comments regarding Mexicans and Muslims.

Black told CTV News Channel’s Power Play in March that, "(Trump) wins. You can't stop him in the Republican Party, and he will mop the floor with (Clinton) -- she's got too much hanging." He backed away from that call in his latest Power Play appearance on Tuesday, saying while Trump still has “got a good chance,” he believes Clinton has the upper hand with “60-40” odds in her favour.

“It will come down to a couple of states,” he said, “This argument that she (Clinton) is going to get 320 or 340 electoral votes is bunk in my opinion.”

Black has said that while Trump’s comments are “rather garish at times” he should be lauded for not having a role in the past 15 years of U.S. government marked by “economic stagnation, millions of people dropping out of the workforce, an open southern border, ridiculous wars, terrible trade deficits …. (and) doubling the national debt to get one per cent economic growth.”

Black also downplayed concerns that Trump and his supporters would mount a challenge against a clear win by Clinton.

A Nevada judge rejected Trump's request for records from a Las Vegas polling place on Tuesday amid allegations that voters were allowed to cast early ballots after a deadline last week. Many political observers saw the request by Trump as a move to lay the groundwork to contest the election result.

“All these scenarios about contesting the election or clashes of groups of supporters of the two are complete rubbish. That doesn’t happen in the U.S. When the election is over, no matter how close they are … the country pulls together behind the new leader, at least for a time,” he said. “These anticipations of apocalypse are simply not well founded.”

Black expects both Clinton and Trump will be “sober and reasonable” after the 18-month campaign draws to a close, regardless of the election’s outcome.

He noted that while Trump’s “polemical pyrotechnics served a purpose” during his campaign, he would be “surprisingly moderate” if he were to win.