After Donald Trump suggested he might not accept the results of next month’s election if he loses, his running mate tried to give assurances that the campaign would concede if they felt the outcome is "fair."

“We’re going to continue to call on people all across this country to respectfully participate in the electoral process to ensure that we can all be confident in the vote,” Mike Pence told TODAY following the final debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton. “And if the vote is fair, I'm confident that we'll accept it.”

Pence spoke shortly after Trump broke with him and other Republican leaders, and even his own daughter, to repeat claims that he felt the general election was rigged against him. He also twice refused to say he would accept the results of the Nov. 8 election, saying he would take a wait-and-see approach.

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“I will look at it at the time,” Trump said. “I will keep you in suspense.”

Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, in a separate interview, said Trump's position threatens to undermine democracy.

"We should not have someone run for president who's going to pull the pillar down," he said Thursday on TODAY.

Kaine also dismissed efforts by Trump surrogates who compared the Republican’s stance to that of former vice president Al Gore when he challenged the results of the 2000 election to the Supreme Court.

“Al Gore did, in a very gracious way that was very patriotic, accept the results once the court process was complete. But all along the way, he did it in a respectful tone,” Kaine said. “Did Al Gore ever say things were rigged? Did he use that kind of language? Absolutely not.”

Kaine said Trump’s refusal to commit to election results is essentially a nose-thumbing to voters.

“The commander-in-chief has to take a command from the American public and when you look at voters and say, ‘Sorry, guys, I may not accept your opinions,’ you’re basically dissing your own bosses, the American public, and I don’t think voters like being insulted," he said.