Republican Party’s presidential candidate in the November 8 election, Donald Trump, yesterday said he would not accept the election result if he loses, as he debated with challenger Hillary Clinton in their final TV debate.
“I will tell you at the time,”Trump told moderator Chris Wallace after claiming for days that the election “has been rigged”.
The Las Vegas debate continued the campaign’s bitter tone, with Trump calling Clinton a “nasty woman”.
Polls showed Trump losing in key battleground states after facing a slew of sexual assault allegations.
The candidates declined to shake hands before and after the political sparring, setting the tone for another debate marked by shouting and interrupting.
But Trump appealed to the Republican establishment by vowing to appoint Supreme Court justices with a “conservative bent” who would overturn a key ruling that made abortion legal in the US and protect gun rights.
He also stuck to his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants and secure US borders.
Meanwhile, Clinton firmly declared she would stand up for the LGBT community, defend abortion rights, focus on restoring the middle class and equal pay for women.
“The government has no business in the decisions that women make,” she said.
In one of the more striking moments, Trump twice declined to say whether he would accept the election’s outcome, breaking with the country’s long-standing tradition of a losing candidate’s concession after the votes are counted.
“That’s horrifying,” Clinton shot back.
“He is denigrating and he is 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 a position,” she added.
Trump’s response drew sharp criticism from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said the candidate was “doing the party and country a great disservice by continuing to suggest the outcome of the election is out of his hands and ‘rigged’ against him,” according to a statement.
When asked about her paid speech to a Brazilian bank in which she spoke of her dream of open trade and open borders, Clinton said she was talking about energy policy.
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