Trump vows election day ‘suspense’

LAS VEGAS: Donald Trump sailed into another political tempest on Thursday after threatening not to recognise the outcome of the US presidential election in a final debate with Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner.

With the November 8 elections just 19 days away, the face-off in Las Vegas was seen as the Republican nominee’s last best chance to turn around a sinking White House bid.

But with millions watching on television, a defiant Trump turned what many thought began as his strongest debate performance yet into a gift to Clinton and another major headache for Republicans.

Asked point-blank whether he would accept the results of the elections no matter what, the 70-year-old reality television star said: “I’ll tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?”

Clinton declared herself “appalled” by what she said was an attack on 240 years of US democracy.

Quoting her former rival Bernie Sanders, she called Trump the “most dangerous person to run for president in the modern history of America.”

Trump’s shattering of political convention dominated US newspaper headlines and television coverage.

Republicans worried about the impact of Trump’s remarks on Republicans in down-ballot races.

— AFP