Will totally accept election results if I win

Mocking his critics, Donald Trump pledged Thursday to fully accept the outcome of next month’s presidential election – if he wins.

Last night during the third and final presidential debate, Trump refused to commit himself to whether he would accept the results of the November 8 general elections.

It was his first attempt to explain his stunning warning a day earlier in the final debate that he might not accept the results.

Coming into Wednesday’s showdown Clinton was sporting a seven point average lead in the national polls and Trump’s campaign was in a free fall thanks to a slew of sexual assault allegations against him that emerged following the release of leaked audio from 2005 revealing the candidate’s lewd comments about women.

Republican candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday would not commit to accepting the outcome of the November 8 United States presidential election if he loses, challenging a cornerstone of American democracy and sending shockwaves across the political spectrum. After pausing for several seconds, he added: “If I win”. Obama joked about Romney’s wealt by saying that while he went shopping “at some stores in midtown”, Romney went shopping “for some stores in midtown”. “I’ll keep you in suspense”, Trump said.

“A special hello to all of you in this room who have known and loved me”, he continued, gaining massive laughs whether intentionally or not.

In one go, Trump cast into doubt the very foundation of democracy, that an election results in a peaceful transfer of power.

It’s nearly impossible to imagine Clinton or Trump saying something similar of each other Thursday night. It doesn’t just demonstrate respect for the office of president – it shows how a beaten candidate can retain his dignity. I know you will feel that too. I think the voters are seeing through it.

Political pundits of both parties expressed shock at the snipe, with many on social media and cable news identifying it as one of the Republican nominee’s worst moments of the 90-minute meetup in Las Vegas.

Sen. John McCain also called on Trump to accept the election results, pointing to how he handled his own 2008 loss to President Obama. He said it’s the kind of thing you used to hear a lot in movies from the ’50s and ’60s, but not anymore, and it was especially egregious to do as Trump cast aspersions on an entire ethnic group.

“After listening to your speech, I will enjoy hearing [his running mate] Mike Pence deny that you ever gave it”.

History also provides a warning of what can happen when citizens decide they have been called to protect the legitimacy of elections.

“Then Trump University gets sued for fraud and racketeering”. It contained the wording of a question about the death penalty that the email suggested Clinton would be asked. He said that if the result was close, the campaign would not accept it. He said that Brazile should resign as the head of the DNC.

“This election isn’t rigged”.

He then made claims about the existence of widespread voter fraud, even though studies have found that it’s actually rare. Mainstream Republicans were quick to denounce the comment. “I’ll be against it when I’m president”, she said.