Refuses to commit on accepting election result
Donald Trump flatly refused to say during Wednesday’s final presidential debate that he would accept the result of the election — a stunning declaration that could upend centuries of US political stability.
“I’ll look at it at the time,” said the Republican nominee, instantly providing the headline of the night.
“What I’ve seen is so bad. The media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile-on is so amazing. I think the voters are seeing through it. I’ll tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?” Trump told moderator Chris Wallace after the Fox News host pressed him on the issue.
The mogul then charged that Hillary Clinton should not even have been allowed to seek the presidency.
“I’ll tell you one other thing. She shouldn’t be allowed to run. She’s guilty of a very, very serious crime. She should not be allowed to run, and just in that respect, I say it’s rigged,” he said, referring to Clinton’s e-mail scandal while she was secretary of state.
The former first lady quickly pounced, saying that Trump’s refusal to say he would concede was a threat to democracy — and another example of how he always claims the fix is in when he doesn’t get his way.
“This is horrifying. Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him,” she said.
“He lost the Iowa caucus. He lost the Wisconsin primary. He said the Republican primary was rigged against him. Then Trump University got sued for fraud and racketeering.
“He claims the system and the federal judge is rigged against him,” she continued.
“There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged,” she said.
That prompted the former reality-TV star to fire back, “I should have gotten it.”
Clinton, seizing on the opening, pounced.
“It’s funny, but it’s also really troubling. That is not the way our democracy works. We’ve been around for 240 years. We’ve had free and fair elections.
“We’ve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone stand- ing on a debate stage during a general election,” she said.
Trump’s unprecedented statement was the opposite of what his running mate, Mike Pence, and daughter Ivanka had said just this week, with both declaring that Trump would surely accept the outcome.
It also contradicted what Trump himself vowed during the first debate.
“The answer is, if she wins, I will absolutely support her,” he said less than a month ago, on Sept. 26.
One analyst said Trump was holding his own in the latest debate until he hedged about being bound by the election results on Nov. 8.
“Refusing to say he’ll accept the results of the election is bad for Trump. He needs to . . . accept the legitimacy of the electoral system. Trump was doing well in this debate until he refused to concede electoral legitimacy,” said Matthew Wilson, a political-science associate professor of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
The candidates also traded charges over Trump’s alleged abuse of women and his bromance with Russian President Vladimir Putin — with Clinton calling Trump his “puppet.”
Trailing in the polls, especially among women, Trump repeatedly called Clinton a liar, interjected with the word “wrong” numerous times as she spoke, and called her a “nasty woman.”
That remark came as Clinton was talking about preserving Social Security and Medicare toward the end of the debate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
She said her plan to save both programs would raise Social Security taxes on the wealthy, including her and Trump, “assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it.”
As she continued talking, Trump cut in: “Such a nasty woman.” Clinton did not react to the comment. Asked about nine women who claimed he groped or mistreated them, Trump said it was entirely possible Clinton’s campaign was behind the accusations.
“Those stories are all totally false. I have to say that and I didn’t even apologize to my wife [who] is sitting right here because I didn’t do anything. I didn’t know any of these women. I didn’t see these women. [It was] them getting their 10 minutes of fame. It was lies and it was fiction . . . and possibly started by her and her very sleazy campaign.” Clinton scoffed at the claim. But Trump, as the audience laughed, continued, “Nobody has more respect for women that I do, nobody. Nobody has more. Those stories have been largely debunked.”
When the debate turned to Team Clinton e-mails and other embarrassing documents leaked by WikiLeaks, she flipped the question to slam Trump’s support of Putin, who she claimed wants Trump to win.
“[Putin would] rather have a puppet as president,” she said.
“You’re the puppet,” Trump shot back. “You’re the puppet.”
“She doesn’t like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way, excuse me. Putin has outsmarted her in Syria,” Trump replied.
“He has no respect for her. He has no respect for our president.”