Jolts US as he ‘may ept voting results’
A CNN/ORC snap poll said 52 per cent thought Clinton won the debate while 39 per cent said Trump was the victor.
In financial markets, Mexico’s peso currency, seen as a measure of Trump’s prospects, rose to its highest level in six weeks at the end of the debate, suggesting growing investor confidence of a Clinton victory.
Trump had vowed to build a wall on the border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants and had said he would make Mexico pay for it.
Mainstream Republicans were quick to denounce the comment. Senator Lindsey Graham, a former Republican presidential candidate who had never warmed to Trump, said: “If he loses, it will not be because the system is ‘rigged’ but because he failed as a candidate.”
Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard political magazine, tweeted: “I deplore what Trump said and refused to say about accepting the election results. Confirms one’s judgment he shouldn’t be president.”
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway yesterday defended the comment in a round of television interviews, saying Trump was “putting people on notice” about voting irregularities.
Trump’s running mate, vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence, said Trump “will accept the outcome” because he is going to win.
But Republican strategist Ryan Williams found Trump’s statement “deeply concerning”.
“You have to accept the results of the election unless there are grounds for a recount and at this point it does not appear that we’re heading for a close election,” he said.
In a debate that for the first time focused more on policy than character, the two candidates nonetheless lashed out at each other.
Trump, 70, accused the Clinton campaign of orchestrating a series of accusations by women who said the businessman made unwanted sexual advances. He said she and President Barack Obama were behind the disturbances at his rallies.
He said the Clinton Foundation was a criminal enterprise and, as a result, she should not have been allowed to seek the presidency.
Clinton, 68, said Trump had incited violence, belittled women and posed a danger to the US. She said Trump had, in the past, also complained that his TV show was unjustly denied a US television Emmy award.
“I should have gotten it,” Trump retorted.
Trump said all of the stories of sexual misdeeds were “totally false” and suggested Clinton was behind the charges. He called her campaign “sleazy” and said: “Nobody has more respect for women than I do, nobody.”
Clinton said the women came forward after Trump said in the last debate he had never made unwanted advances on women. In a 2005 video, Trump was recorded bragging about groping women against their will.
“Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity, their self-worth and I don’t think there is a woman anywhere who doesn’t know what that feels like,” said Clinton.
The two candidates also had a spirited exchange on abortion, gun rights and immigration.
Clinton said she would raise taxes on the wealthy to fund the government’s Social Security retirement programme.
She said Trump, who Forbes said was worth US$3.7 billion (RM14.8 billion), would pay higher taxes, too, unless he could get out of it.
“Such a nasty woman,” Trump replied.
Trump and Clinton battled sharply over the influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Clinton calling Trump his puppet, and Trump charging that Putin had repeatedly outsmarted Clinton.
Clinton and Trump walked straight to their podiums when they were introduced at the University of Nevada here, once again forgoing the traditional handshake as they did at the second debate last week in St. Louis, Missouri.
This time, they did not shake hands at the end of the debate either.
The two candidates are scheduled to meet again later at a charity dinner in New York. Reuters