Donald Trump refused to say he’d accept the election’s results if he loses, an extraordinary statement on one of the underpinnings of US democracy, as one of the most unconventional US presidential campaigns entered its final stretch.
Hillary Clinton called the Republican nominee’s remark “horrifying” in what was one of the most dramatic moments on Wednesday night in Las Vegas during their final debate before the November 8 election.
“I will look at it, at the time,” Trump said, as he accused the media of dishonesty and being part of rigging the election against him. “They’ve poisoned the minds of the voters, but unfortunately for them I think the voters are seeing through it.”
Always the showman, Trump said he’d let Americans know his decision about accepting the results after the election. “I will tell you at the time,” he said. “I’ll keep you in suspense.”
Clinton expressed shock, echoing comments made earlier this week by President Barack Obama on the importance of a peaceful transfer of power in the US.
“Let’s be clear about what he is saying and what that means,” the Democratic nominee said. “He is denigrating, he’s talking down our democracy, and I, for one, am appalled that somebody who is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of position.”
Running mate
Cases of vote fraud are rare in the US and Trump has offered no evidence of widespread irregularities.
Less than an hour before the debate, Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said in a Bloomberg interview that he and Trump had “made it clear that we’ll accept the will of the American people” and expressed confidence that they would win.
But after the debate, Pence shifted. He told reporters that there is fraud in some polling locations and so the nominee will “take a wait and see approach.”
Some of Trump’s allies also tried to frame his refusal to say he would concede by suggesting it won’t matter, because he’ll win or that a challenge to the results may be required.
Trump’s allies
Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama told reporters that Trump will accept the results “if they’re fair and he’s had the opportunity to challenge them if need be.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said he thinks there can be widespread voter fraud and Trump “isn’t willing to carte blanche concede it isn’t possible.” Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the party’s 2008 vice-presidential nominee, told reporters after the debate that she has no reason to believe the election is rigged.
“I can’t say the election is rigged because it hasn’t taken place yet, but let us hope that these are legitimate votes taken and, of course, the results will be accepted,” said Palin, who endorsed Trump during the primary race. “We’ll live with it if it’s legit.”
‘Great disservice’
Other Republicans expressed alarm. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Trump is doing the party and the country “a great disservice” by suggesting the outcome of the election is out of his hands. “If he loses, it will not be because the system is ‘rigged’ but because he failed as a candidate,” Graham said on Twitter. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a vehement Trump opponent, called Trump’s assertion “beyond the pale.”
With 19 days left in the campaign, the two are scheduled to be in the same room just one more time before the election, at Thursday night’s annual Al Smith charity dinner in New York.
The debate, moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News, came after a tumultuous few weeks for Trump. His slide in state and national polls started with a lackluster performance in the first debate on September 26 and continued with the release of a 2005 recording of Trump making lewd comments about women and subsequent allegations from several women that he inappropriately touched them.
Substantive issues
At the start, the two candidates offered sharply differing views on the Supreme Court, gun control and abortion. Although much of the debate dealt with substantive issues, it quickly got personal and combative when it turned to accusations against Trump that he groped women and to questions of whether he tolerated Russia’s interference in the US election.
The candidates repeatedly talked over each other, with Trump interjecting, “wrong” several times as Clinton spoke. At one point, as she made a jab about his taxes while talking about the Social Security Trust Fund, he proclaimed: “Such a nasty woman.”
Trump accused Clinton of pushing the stories of the women who came forward to allege sexual misconduct, and he again denied behaving inappropriately.
“I didn’t even apologize to my wife, who’s sitting right here, because I didn’t do anything,” Trump said. Of his accusers, he said, “I think they want either fame or her campaign did it.”
Clinton’s criticism
Clinton criticized Trump over the allegations and his general treatment of women, a voting bloc that has been central to her lead in the polls.
“Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger,” she said. “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.”
A snap poll conducted immediately after the debate by CNN found 52 percent of those who watched thought Clinton won, compared with 39 percent who said Trump was the winner.
The two candidates also clashed over Russia and the hacking of Democratic Party e-mails that US officials have blamed on President Vladimir Putin’s government.
Clinton deflected questions about leaked e-mails from her campaign by criticizing Trump for failing to denounce Russian interference in the US election. Trump shot back by saying the US has no idea who was behind the hacking.
Putin’s role
“Hillary you have no idea,” he said. “She doesn’t like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way.” Trump has repeatedly praised Putin as a strong leader and refused to put the blame on Russia for hacking Democratic Party and Clinton campaign files even though US security and intelligence officials have done so.
“I’ve never met Putin. This is not my best friend, but if the United States got along with Russia it wouldn’t be so bad.”
Clinton suggested that Putin prefers Trump because “he’d rather have a puppet as president.”
Wallace asked Clinton whether she kept the pledge during her 2009 confirmation hearing as secretary of state to avoid any conflict of interest with the Clinton Foundation, especially with questions about whether those seeking grants involving Haiti relief were considered separately from non-donors.
Clinton said everything she did as secretary of state was proper, and the foundation was a “world-renowned charity.’’ Trump called it “a criminal enterprise.”
Supreme Court
Both agreed that the Supreme Court is one of the central issues in the campaign, one that both parties have used to motivate voters to get to the polls on Election Day. Trump said he would support seeing the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that made abortion legal overturned.
“That will happen,” he said, noting the type of “pro-life” justices that he would plan to appoint. “It will go back to the states and then the states will make the determination.”
Clinton gave an emotional defense of her stance on allowing termination of pregnancies late-term, citing the forced abortions in China and other practices that she saw while secretary of state.
One of their most vigorous clashes came over immigration and trade, although neither candidate offered any new details on their plans.
The fight over immigration policy has been a central issue in the race, with Trump arguing for construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border and demanding that Mexico pay for it. He’s also vowed to increase deportations. “We have some bad hombres here, and we’re going to get them out.”
Clinton and others have questioned the feasibility of that proposal and she’s promised to introduce comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to full and equal citizenship within her first 100 days in office. Clinton said Trump’s plan to deport all undocumented immigrants is not in keeping with the nation’s ideals and would “rip our country apart.’’
“I don’t want to rip families apart,” she said. “I don’t want to see the deportation force that Donald has talked about in action.”
The two also battled over their tax and spending plans, with Clinton saying she wanted to see the “biggest jobs program since World War II.” Trump pointed to former President Bill Clinton, as he presented himself as an expert negotiator.
“Our jobs are being taken out by the deal that her husband signed,” Trump said in a reference to the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). “I’m going to renegotiate Nafta.”
While Clinton has said her proposals wouldn’t add to the federal debt, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated they would likely add $200 billion to the debt during the next decade, while Trump’s policies would add $5.3 trillion.
Trump said that while Clinton has an advantage of governmental experience, she’s not used it effectively. “She’s been doing this for 30 years. Why the hell didn’t you do it over the last 15, 20 years?” he asked. “The one thing you have over me is experience, but it’s bad experience.”