At an Ohio rally the Republican candidate said ‘I will totally accept the results’ but then clarified he still may file a legal challenge if Hillary Clinton wins

Donald Trump raised new questions about whether he would accept the election result on Thursday, less than 12 hours after he used the final presidential debate to declare that he would keep the country “in suspense” over whether he would accept the outcome.

At a rally in Delaware, Ohio, the Republican candidate said first: “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election,” before pausing for effect and then adding to cheers and applause: “If I win.”

Later he told the crowd: “Of course I would accept a clear election result, but I would reserve my right to contend or file a legal challenge, in the case of a questionable result.” He did not define what he meant by a clear result.

Trump later went on to warn that his opponent Hillary Clinton would “do anything, including voter fraud” to win. And he claimed that in being asked to accept the integrity of the American electoral process, “I am being asked to waive centuries of legal precedent designed to protect the voters.”

Trump’s refusal to endorse the results of the forthcoming election, unheard of in modern American history, ensured the main talking point after the debate was whether the brash businessman had a suitable temperament for the White House.



It also prompted a collective cringe from many in the Republican political establishment, which is now facing the prospect of losing control of the Senate and even the House because of the drag faced by down-ballot candidates campaigning into the headwinds of their presidential nominee.

“Talking about rigged elections with zero evidence is dangerous because it erodes trust without justification and kindles cynicism that undermines self-government,” Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who is not up for election but is an ardent critic of Trump, said in a statement. “Our elections must have integrity, even if the two major party candidates do not.”

Senator John McCain of Arizona, who lost to Barack Obama in 2008, said: “I didn’t like the outcome of the 2008 election. But I had a duty to concede, and I did so without reluctance. A concession isn’t just an exercise in graciousness. It is an act of respect for the will of the American people, a respect that is every American leader’s first responsibility.”

The animus between Clinton and Trump was clear throughout the debate – once again, they did not shake hands – and in some of the more heated exchanges, with Clinton accusing Trump of being a “a puppet” of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Trump initially appeared more restrained than he had in the two previous debates, arguing forcefully with Clinton over abortion, gun rights and immigration, but over the course of a 90-minute debate in which Clinton repeatedly needled him he gradually returned to form.

Looking increasingly irritable, he locked horns with the unflappable Fox News moderator, Chris Wallace, and repeatedly cut off his Democratic rival – including, on one occasion, interrupting her mid-sentence with the line: “Such a nasty woman.”

However, it was Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome of an election he is currently projected to lose that will stand out from the ill-tempered clash on the debate stage on the University of Nevada campus in Las Vegas.

Asked if he would accept the outcome of the election, Trump demurred. “I will look at it at the time. I’m not looking at anything now,” he said. “What I’ve seen, what I’ve seen, is so bad,” he added, cryptically, before saying the media had “poisoned the minds” of voters and hinting that millions of unregistered voters could fraudulently sway the outcome.

Pressed by an incredulous Wallace, who pointed out that Trump was breaking with a longstanding democratic tradition in which losing candidates concede defeat “for the good of the country”, the Republican nominee refused to budge.

“What I’m saying is that I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?”

Trump’s comments directly contradicted those of his vice-presidential running mate, Mike Pence, who just four days ago said he would “absolutely accept the result of the election”.

They also contradicted a promise Trump himself made last month, in the first presidential debate, when he was asked a nearly identical question about whether he would accept the election result. “The answer is: if she wins, I will absolutely support her,” he replied then.

Much has changed since the first debate in late September, a point in the race when Trump had shrunk Clinton’s lead to a couple of points and seemed to have a plausible shot at the White House.

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Trump’s fortunes have plummeted amid allegations of sexual assault, which he denies, revelations about his tax avoidance and stumbling debate performances before huge primetime TV audiences.

Clinton, who in any other election year would be fighting for her political survival in the face of her own scandals, including the disclosure of hacked emails via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, has a six-point lead in an average of national polls.

More importantly, she also has an edge in almost all of the key battleground states needed to win the White House.

Shortly after the debate, a confident-looking Clinton walked to the rear of her Boeing 737 to address reporters and attempt to capitalize on her opponent’s stumble.

“Our country’s been around for 240 years and we are a country based on laws and we’ve had contested elections going back to the very beginning,” she said.

The Democratic nominee used even more vivid language on stage, calling Trump’s refusal to accept the result “horrifying”. “He is denigrating and he is talking down our democracy,” she said.

Clinton, who has become practiced at provoking and baiting Trump, then laid a trap he walked straight into.

“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 has, at various times, accused the FBI, the Republican primary process and the judicial system of being corrupt.

“There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged.”

“Should have gotten it!” Trump interjected.

People in the debate auditorium giggled at that interruption, one of several occasions when the audience erupted. There were sniggers, for example, when Trump insisted: “Nobody has more respect for women than I do, nobody.”

Asked about the nine women who have come forward to accuse him of the sexually predatory behavior he bragged about in a 2005 video leaked earlier this month, Trump insisted they were all either seeking “10 minutes of fame” or had been somehow orchestrated by Clinton’s campaign. A 10th woman made a new groping claim on Thursday.

“Those stories are all totally false – I have to say that,” Trump said. “And I didn’t even apologize to my wife who is sitting right here because I didn’t do anything.”

Pointing out how Trump has publicly denigrated his accusers, Clinton said: “Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity, their self-worth, and I don’t think there is a woman anywhere doesn’t know what that feels like.”

One of the women to level accusations at Trump, Jill Harth, who gave an extensive interview to Guardian US, tweeted mid-debate: “Trump lied and lied again,” adding: “He says he doesn’t know any of the women. Well, he definitely knew me.”

The third debate was not as one-sided as the opening televised contest between the two candidates, in which Clinton was by most accounts declared the winner. Neither was it as personal as the second debate, in which the candidates clashed in some of the most brutal exchanges ever seen on a presidential stage.



However, there was nothing in the last debate that seemed likely to alter the dynamics of the race.

There are 20 days left before election day, but Wednesday’s debate was the last occasion both candidates will share a stage, and marked the final stretch in one of the most wildly unpredictable presidential races of modern times.



It has been one that has been dominated throughout by the former reality TV star, who opened the first primary debate 14 months ago by brazenly declaring “politicians are stupid” and threatening to ditch the GOP and run as an independent.

His refusal on the debate stage to accept the outcome of the election was a similarly unprecedented move, and perhaps his last throw of the dice.

The response at Trump’s rally in Ohio indicated the move had riled and excited his ardent supporters.

Sean Ringert of Maryville, Ohio, who was wearing a shirt that proclaimed “keep calm and carry guns” thought last night’s debate was Trump’s best yet, judging by the portions he watched.

Ringert was comfortable with Trump’s unwillingness to concede the election, saying: “I am perfectly fine with that; it’s a great media tactic.” He added: “I think there is going to be voter fraud no matter what and that it’s good to have it in the air.”

Ringert insisted that fraud had affected the results of past elections in the United States. “I can point to one: a senatorial election,” he said. The Trump supporter had heard about it on talk radio earlier on Thursday morning but could not remember more details.

It is unclear what the impression will be on the wider electorate.

“That’s crazy,” said Nigel Fleming, a 47-year-old musician who stood on the corner of a casino-lined stretch of Fremont Street, upon hearing about Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome of the election. “Why would he say that? Does he think he’s lost already?”