“What he said tonight is part of his whole effort to blame somebody else for his campaign and where he stands in this election,” Clinton said. | AP Photo Clinton: I'm 'relieved and very grateful' the debate is over



LAS VEGAS — Hillary Clinton told reporters that she’s feeling “relieved and very grateful” now that her final showdown with Donald Trump is behind her, while also expressing alarm that her rival may refuse to accept the outcome of the presidential election.

A triumphant Clinton boarded her plane to applause from her campaign staff, then spent a few minutes with reporters aboard her campaign plane after delivering a commanding performance on a debate stage here that appeared to cement her status as the runaway favorite to win on Nov. 8.


“I had my very first debate in this campaign on Oct. 13, 2015, so it’s been a year and now we have finished our last debate, and I’m feeling both relieved and very grateful,” Clinton said.

When asked about whether she would accept the election results, Clinton chuckled and instead focused on Trump’s refusal to say whether he will accept the election results, win or lose. Clinton repeated her line that such a statement was “horrifying.”

“You know our country has been around for 240 years and we are a country based on laws and we’ve had hot, contested elections going back to the very beginning,” the former secretary of state said. “But one of our hallmarks has always been that we accept the outcomes as free and fair elections, and somebody wins and somebody loses.”

She went on to say that Trump simply sounded like a sore loser.

“What he said tonight is part of his whole effort to blame somebody else for his campaign and where he stands in this election,” Clinton said.

Her staff was clearly feeling good about her performance.

Philippe Reines, the longtime Clinton aide who played Trump in Clinton’s mock debate prep sessions, embraced her when she exited the stage and told her she was a “bad-ass hombre” — a reference to one of Trump’s more remarked upon debate lines — according to a staffer in the room.



