US presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday said people would have to “wait and see” whether he would respect the result if Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton won Nov. 8’s election.
Trump came into the third televised debate in Las Vegas looking to right his campaign with just 20 days to go before election day.
The Republican repeated accusations that Clinton’s campaign team and the media were attempting to rig the vote.
Photo: AFP
“The media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile-on is so amazing,” Trump said.
He went on to allege that “millions” of fake voters had been registered and that the 68-year-old Clinton should not even have been allowed to run because she mishandled classified US Department of State e-mails.
Clinton declared herself “appalled” by what she said was an attack on 240 years of US democracy.
Asked by moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News whether, despite his doubts, he would commit to recognizing the result of the vote no matter what, Trump said: “I’ll tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?”
The White House hopefuls got off to a subdued, but substantive start to the debate, compared with the previous events.
They were asked about their visions for the US Supreme Court, prompting Clinton to say the election was about “what kind of country are we going to be.”
She said that regulations regarding homosexuals and abortion should not be overturned.
Trump said “the Supreme Court is what it’s all about,” vowing to appoint “pro-life justices,” who would also protect gun rights.
“If you go with what Hillary is saying, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby,” he said.
“Using that kind of scare rhetoric is just terribly unfortunate,” Clinton said.
Clinton later drew an insult from her opponent.
She had been talking about her proposal to preserve Social Security and Medicare by raising taxes on wealthy people, including her and Trump.
“Assuming he can’t figure out how to get out of it,” she added, an apparent reference to Trump’s tax record.
Trump interrupted, saying: “Such a nasty woman.”
The world outside the US figured prominently.
Clinton said Trump has been “cavalier, even casual” about the use of nuclear weapons and the idea that it would be acceptable for US allies such as Japan and South Korea to acquire them on their own.
“Nuclear competition in Asia, you said, you know: ‘Go ahead. Enjoy yourselves, folks,’” she said.
“All I said is we have to renegotiate” defense agreements with other countries that the US can no longer afford, Trump said. “When I said Japan and Germany and ... South Korea, these are very rich, powerful countries. Saudi Arabia; nothing but money. We protect Saudi Arabia. Why aren’t they paying?”
Wallace walked the finest of lines in handling the pair.
As the first-ever general election moderator of Fox News, he had the hopes of an organization riding on him along with critics worried that he would go easy on Trump.
His toughest exchange with Clinton came when he asked the Democrat about “pay-to-play” charges surrounding people who made contributions to the Clinton foundation.
When Clinton answered by praising the work the Clinton foundation had done, Wallace interrupted her with a reminder to answer the question posed.
She did not get the chance as Trump interrupted at about the same time and Wallace turned to him for a rebuttal.
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