US Presidential Debate: Trump ‘may not recognise poll result’

US Republican Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump has refused to commit to accepting the November election result if he loses.

Donald Trump told moderator Chris Wallace: “I will tell you at the time”.

For days he has claimed the election is “rigged”.

The Las Vegas debate continued the campaign’s bitter tone, with Mr Trump calling Mrs Clinton a “nasty woman”.

Polls show Mr Trump is losing in key battleground states after facing a slew of sexual assault allegations.

The candidates declined to shake hands before and after the political sparring, setting the tone for what would later become yet another debate marked by shouting and interrupting.

Mr. Trump appealed to the Republican establishment by vowing to appoint Supreme Court justices with a “conservative bent” who would overturn a key ruling that made abortion legal in the US and protect gun rights.

He also stuck to his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants and secure US borders.

Mrs. Clinton firmly declared she would stand up for the LGBT community, defend abortion rights, focus on restoring the middle class and equal pay for women.

“The government has no business in the decisions that women make,” she said.

In one of the more striking moments, Mr. Trump twice declined to say whether he would accept the election’s outcome, breaking with the country’s long-standing tradition of a losing candidate’s concession after the votes are counted.

“That’s horrifying,” Mrs. Clinton shot back.

“He is denigrating and he is talking down our democracy. And I, for one, am appalled that somebody who is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of a position.”

Mr. Trump’s response drew sharp criticism from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said the candidate was “doing the party and country a great disservice by continuing to suggest the outcome of the election is out of his hands and ‘rigged’ against him,” according to a statement.

Even the immigration discussion started reasonably civilly, until Mrs. Clinton pivoted to turn a question about WikiLeaks into an attack on Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin.

At that point, interrupting Mr. Trump returned. He called Hillary Clinton a liar and after she called him a Russian puppet, he said that was in fact her.

By the time the topic turned to “fitness to be president,” the stage was set for a total meltdown.

He said the women who has accused him of sexual harassment were in it for the fame and Clinton campaign stooges.

Perhaps most remarkable, however, was when moderator Chris Wallace asked Mr Trump to support the election results, no matter how they came out. He refused to do so.

He accused the media of poisoning people’s minds.

He said Mrs Clinton shouldn’t have been allowed to run for president.

It was Mr Trump in a bunker, settling scores and lashing out at enemies real and perceived.

Mr. Trump has faced damaging fallout after a video emerged of him making obscene comments about groping women, with senior Republicans deserting him.

When pressed about sexual assault allegations made against him by several women in the wake of the video, Mr. Trump said the claims had been “largely debunked”.

In addressing the groping accusations, Mrs. Clinton said: “Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger”.

“Nobody has more respect for women than I do,” Trump said as the crowd was heard scoffing.

He also blamed Mrs. Clinton, whose campaign he said was responsible for drumming up the allegations.

SOURCE: BBC News