“I’ll tell you at the time, I’ll keep you in suspense.”
That was Donald Trump’s answer to a question, during the third and final presidential debate, on whether he’ll accept the results of the election if he loses.
It’s a response that shakes our Republic — a nation built on the law — to its core.
An hour before the debate, Trump’s running-mate Mike Pence told Fox News they would “absolutely” accept the results. Trump’s daughter Ivanka said the same thing.
But not Donald Trump. The 70 year old billionaire cannot bring himself to believing he could lose. A few years back he suggested the Emmy Awards were rigged when The Apprentice didn’t win for best reality TV show.
The presidency isn’t reality TV, and the eyes of the world are on America.
A lack of concession from Trump on election night could send his supporters into a frenzy. In many ways the natural end to the election cycle would be upended by outrageous claims of fraud.
What a boneheaded thing for the nominee of a major party to say.
Moderator Chris Wallace, who was the best moderator of the year, explained to Trump that the peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of American democracy, depends on the losing candidate accepting the validity of the electoral results.
Trump brushed it off, complaining about how the media has it in for him and how the overall election is rigged against him.
“That’s horrifying,” Clinton shot back.
Trump needed a strong debate performance to turn his sinking campaign around. That didn’t help.
And then there was this:
“Such a nasty woman.”
That’s what Trump said while interrupting Clinton during her answer about taxes.
Trump needs college educated Republican women to vote for him in Florida and North Carolina. That answer just assured that they will probably not.
Trump did perform well, as he did in the first debate, for the first 30 minutes, but then he lost momentum while explaining his support of Vladimir Putin.
Clinton also had the best line of the night when she said, “We were bringing Osama bin Laden to justice when you were hosting Celebrity Apprentice.”
A CNN instant poll found 52 percent of viewers felt Clinton won the debate, only 39 percent felt Trump had won.
That was Trump’s last chance, in front of a huge national audience, to change the meter. He failed to do it.
Here is our new Electoral Map Projection with 18 days to go:
Click the map to create your own at CLINTON 334 ELECTORAL VOTES – TRUMP 198 ELECTORAL VOTES