Trump non-committal on honouring outcome.

Johnson Cherian.

Republican candidate Donald Trump indicated that he might not accept the outcome of the November 8 presidential election, a move unprecedented in the history of American democracy.

Mr. Trump, who had earlier termed the polling process rigged, remained non-committal about accepting the results, while participating in the third and final presidential debate with Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. As the moderator tried to draw him out on whether he would honour the outcome, Mr. Trump said: “I’ll look at it at the time.”

Mr. Trump then launched what has become the persistent theme of his campaign speeches in recent days, about how the system is rigged against him and in favour of Ms. Clinton. According to Mr. Trump, Ms. Clinton should not have been allowed to contest or vote. When the moderator pressed him again for a clear answer on whether he would respect the outcome, Mr. Trump said: “I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense.”

Mr. Trump has called into question the entire legitimacy of the election process, and undermined his running mate Mike Pence and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway who have been trying to explain his allegations on rigged elections as a reference to what they termed as a one-sided media discourse. Mr. Pence had said three days ago that Mr. Trump “will absolutely accept the result of the election.” “I have no doubt the national media is trying to rig this election with their biased coverage.” Mr. Trump position during the debate invalidates Mr. Pence.

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