Republican nominee in the U.S. presidential election in a final debate with the candidate of the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, says he will not commit to accepting the result of the election.
His refusal in the Wednesday debate re-enforced his earlier claims that the election will be rigged, a comment that has been condemned by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Speaking in Las Vegas, both candidates had series of disagreements on issues that centred on national debt and health and social benefits, immigration, the economy, the Supreme Court, foreign flash-points and their fitness to be president.
When asked if he would absolutely accept the result of the election, Mr Trump responded; “I will look at it at the time. I am not looking at anything now. What I have seen is so bad”, he said, claiming that the media are so dishonest and corrupt.
But Mrs Clinton described Mr Trump’s comments as terrifying, saying she was appalled that Mr Trump, running for the presidency of America that prides itself for holding free and fair elections for many years now could make such statement.
Mentioning series of contests that Mr Trump had lost, which he claimed were rigged, she said: “This is a mindset and this is how Donald thinks. It is funny but it is also troubling. That is not the way our democracy works. We have been around for 240 years. We have had free and fair elections and we have accepted the outcome and that is what is expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election”.
Keep Our Eyes on ISIS
On foreign flash-points, the involvement of the United States in Syria and Iraq was raised.
While Mrs Clinton said she would not support putting American soldiers into Iraq, she expressed hopes that the hard work that the American military advisers had put in seeking peace in Iraq would yield positive results.
“We need to keep our eyes on ISIS. We will have to go after them on the air, on ground online. Push for a no fly zone and safe haven within Syria.
“We can have negotiations necessary to bring the conflict to an end,” she stressed.
But Mr Trump do not see the need for the war, saying the American government had been outsmarted in the Middle-East.
He said: “Nobody can believe how stupid our government is”.
The Republican nominee further said there was the need for renegotiation of agreements because America could not continue to defend other countries.
Both candidates had earlier disagreed on immigration policies.
Mrs Clinton had said that while she does not support an open border, her government would consider reforms that would recognise migrants.
“We will have secured border but we will have reforms.
“I voted for border security in United State Senate to ensure we get rid of any violent person. Any person who should be deported, we should deport them. We are both a nation of immigration and laws.
“We will trade more energy with our neighbours. I want to have an electric grid and system that crosses border,” she stressed.
Mrs Clinton further stated that her government would put all illegal migrants into a formal system.
She, however, expressed fears that Mr Trump’s idea on border control would “reap our country apart”. “What Trump is proposing is that he has a different view about what we should do with the immigrants.”
Mr Trump had said that allowing illegal migrants into the nation through its borders, which he also claimed were porous, would be a disaster for the nation.
“We need strong borders. You have no country if you have no border.
“Drugs come in from different borders destroying children. We have some bad people here and we will get them out. Every undocumented person will have to be deported
“We will speed up the process for people waiting to become citizens,” he said while claiming that children have been killed by persons that have come into the country illegally.
On the economy, Mrs Clinton said her government would empower the middle class, insisting that “when the middle class thrives America thrives.
“My plan is based on growing the economy, giving the middle class families many more opportunities. I want us to create the biggest jobs programmes since world war II. Jobs in infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
“I think we can compete with high wage countries, I believe we will.
“I want to make sure women get equal pay. I want more technical education in high schools to prepare young people for the job in the feature. We will work hard to go where the money is. We will have corporations make a contribution to our country,” she stressed.
For Mr Trump, the economy at the moment had suffered a setback, but he promised that his government would create new deals and make great trade deals.
“We will cut business taxes massively. We will start the engine rolling again.
“Our country is stagnant. We are not making things anymore. Things are pouring in from all over the world,” he said.
Strong Justice System
Both candidates have always disagreed on tax issues, with Mr Trump saying that Mrs Clinton’s government would raise taxes for Americans.
Mrs Clinton, however, said she would only raise taxes for the rich American and corporations.
One issue both candidates had little agreement on was justice, with the candidates saying they support a strong justice system that will ensure that the rights of Americans are protected at all time.
But while Mr Trump had not so strong statements against gun regulations, Mr Clinton accused him of supporting the system because he had benefitted from the stakeholders.
On fitness to be President, issues of sexual assaults allegations against Mr Trump, were raised but the Republican candidate said that the claims had been debunked.
I didn’t know any of these women. I didn’t see these women. It was lies and all fiction. Nobody has more respect for women than I do,” he stated.
Mr Trumps had earlier raised issues of private email use and six billion dollars which he claimed got missing when Mrs Clinton was with the State Department.
Mrs Clinton, dismissed the claim, pointing out that it was untrue and had been debunked.
On the email issues also brought up by Mr Trump, she said that WikiLeaks had released information which were given to them by the Russian government. She claimed that the Russian government hacked American websites and accounts of private people and have given that information to WikiLeaks to put it on its website.
