The final presidential debate Wednesday night turned to the question of whether Republican candidate Donald Trump will accept the voting results should he lose.
In recent weeks, Trump has said several times that if he loses the election, it’s because the system is "rigged" against him.
“You have been warning at rallies recently that this election is rigged and that Hillary Clinton is in the process of trying to steal it from you,” debate moderator Chris Wallace said. “Your running mate, Gov. Pence, pledged on Sunday that he and you – his words – 'will absolutely accept the result of this election.' Today, your daughter, Ivanka, said the same thing. I would ask you here on the stage tonight: Do you make the same commitment that you will absolutely accept the result of this election?”
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Here’s how Trump responded.
“I will look at it at the time,” he replied. “I’m not looking at anything now; I will look at it at the time. What I’ve seen – what I’ve seen is so bad. First of all, the media is so dishonest and so corrupt, and the pile-on is so amazing. The New York Times actually wrote an article about it, but they don’t even care. It’s so dishonest, and they've poisoned the minds of the voters. But unfortunately for them, I think the voters are seeing through it.”
Wallace cited the American tradition of a peaceful transfer of powers, where the loser in the presidential contest accepts the results and moves on so that the country can be united behind a single leader.
“There is a tradition in this country – in fact, one of the prides of this country – is the peaceful transition of power and that no matter how hard-fought a campaign is, that at the end of the campaign, that the loser concedes to the winner. Not saying that you are necessarily going to be the you loser or the winner, but that the loser concedes to the winner and that the country comes together in part for the good of the country. Are you saying that you are not prepared now to commit to that principle?”
Trump replied with a similar refrain.
“What I’m saying now is that I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense, OK?”
Transcripts from NPR’s Fact Check.
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