Trump, Clinton debate for the last time before election

Threatening to upend a basic pillar of American democracy, Donald Trump refused Wednesday night to say he would accept the results of the November election if he loses to Hillary Clinton. The Democratic nominee declared Trump’s resistance “horrifying.”

Trump has spent the days leading up to Wednesday night’s presidential debate warning voters that the election will be “rigged.” Asked whether he would accept the results, he said, “I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep

you in suspense.”

Earlier, Clinton forcefully accused Trump of favoring Russia’s leader over American military and intelligence experts Wednesday night, as the Republican nominee pointedly refused to accept the U.S. government’s assertion that Moscow has sought to

meddle in the presidential election.

In a combative exchange in the final presidential debate, Clinton charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin was backing Trump because “he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”

Trump denied any relationship with Putin and said he would condemn any foreign interference in the election. But he notably refused

to accept the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was involved in the hacking of Democratic organizations. The Clinton campaign has also said the FBI is investigating Russia’s involvement in the hacking of a top adviser’s emails.

The third presidential debate opened with a measured, policy-focused discussion — a stark contrast to the heated and highly personal clashes that defined the earlier

contests. However, Trump quickly reverted to his previous style of repeatedly bursting in to interrupt Clinton as well as moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News.

The 90-minute contest in Las Vegas came just under three weeks before Election Day and with early voting underway in more than 30 states.

The candidates outlined starkly different visions for the Supreme Court under their potential

presidencies, with the Republican declaring the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion would be overturned by his judicial nominees.

Clinton vowed to appoint justices who would uphold the ruling legalizing abortion, saying, “We have come too far to have that turned back now.”