Trump refuses to commit whether he’ll accept poll results

Las Vegas, October 20

Republican presidential canditate Donald Trump on Thursday said he might not accept the results of next month’s election if he felt it was rigged, a remark slammed as “horrifying” by his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as the two faced off in the final presidential debate.

“I will look at it at the time. I’m not looking at anything now,” the 70-year-old Trump said in response to a question whether he would accept the November 8 poll results, during the third presidential debate here.

“I will tell you at that time. I will keep you in suspense,” he said, reiterating that the current elections are rigged.

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“The media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile on is so amazing, The New York Times wrote an article about it. They don’t even care, it’s so dishonest, they’ve poisoned the minds of the voters, but unfortunately for them, I think the voters are seeing through it,” he said.

Read: Trump's refusal to accept poll results ‘contempt’ for democracy: Media

Trump’s comments at the Las Vegas showdown marked a stunning moment that has never been seen in the weeks before a modern US presidential election, CNN said.

“The stance threatens to cast doubt on one of the fundamental principles of American politics--the peaceful, undisputed transfer of power from one president to a successor who is recognised as legitimate after winning an election,” it said.

Read: Running for president is a step down for my dad: Trump Junior

Trump’s remarks came after moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News said the peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of American democracy, depended on the losing candidate accepting the validity of the electoral results.

Read: Trump cites India’s growth rate to compare it with US economy

Clinton, 69, described her rival’s refusal to accept the outcome of the election as “horrifying”, and even went so far as to paint him as a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He is denigrating and he is talking down our democracy,” said the former secretary of state.

“And I, for one, am appalled that someone who is the nominee of one of two major parties would take that position.”

“Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him,” said Clinton, adding that he had, at various times, accused the FBI, Republican primary process and judicial system of being corrupt.

“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. That is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election.”

Trump, meanwhile, said American voters are wise enough to see through everything.

He also accused the Clinton campaign of orchestrating a series of accusations by women who said the businessman made unwanted sexual advancements.

“She should not be allowed to run. And just in that respect, I say it’s rigged, because she should never have been allowed to run for the presidency based on what she did with e-mails and so many other things,” Trump said.

The bad blood between the candidates was unmistakable throughout their final head-to-head, and pointedly there was no handshake before or after the contest.

Asked about the nine women who had come forward to accuse Trump of the sexually predatory behaviour he bragged about in a 2005 video leaked earlier this month, Trump insisted they were all seeking “10 minutes of fame”. “Those stories are all totally false–I have to say that,” Trump said.

“And I didn’t even apologise to my wife who is sitting right here because I didn’t do anything.”

Trump called Clinton “such a nasty woman” after she attacked his personal record on paying no income tax for years.

Trump, under enormous pressure to halt Clinton’s steady rise in opinion polls, came across as repeatedly frustrated as he tried to rally conservative voters with hardline stands on illegal immigration, abortion rights and gun laws.

The two accused each other of not being fit to be the president of the country.

Clinton said Trump is the “most dangerous person to run for presidency”.

Trump is “unfit (to be president), and he proves it every time he talks,” Clinton alleged.

“No, you are the one that’s unfit,” Trump responded by interrupting her remarks.

Trump also slammed the foreign policy of outgoing US President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Iraq and Syria.

Clinton was repeatedly forced to defend her long service in government which, Trump charged, had yielded no real accomplishments.

Trump portrayed himself as a candidate who would protect the second amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Trump spoke in stark terms about immigration. He promised to stem what he characterised as an avalanche of people and heroin coming across the border which, he said, was “poisoning the blood” of young Americans.

Trump reiterated his call for a wall on the US-Mexico border and talked of his plans to deport undocumented immigrants.

Clinton reiterated her position of allowing undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows, and mocked Trump for failing to mention his signature wall during his meeting with the Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto over the summer.

She said there were “undocumented immigrants in America who are paying more federal income tax than a billionaire”. PTI