Arizona Senator Flake responds to Trump’s stance on accepting the election results
Oct 19, 2016, 8:20 PM | Updated: 8:50 pm
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump points to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the third presidential debate at UNLV in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
It wasn’t the first time that presidential candidate Donald Trump hasn’t confirmed he will accept the results of this year’s election. But he also didn’t make it clear he would contest the results, either.
In fact, Trump pulled out the wild card at the third and final presidential debate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“I will tell you at the time,” Trump said when asked if he would accept the results of the election. “I’ll keep you in suspense.”
TRUMP on whether he'll accept the results of the election: "I'LL KEEP YOU IN SUSPENSE." pic.twitter.com/ESPn2yy541
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) October 20, 2016
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake didn’t care for that response.
.@realDonaldTrump saying that he might not accept election results is beyond the pale
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) October 20, 2016
Flake, who is a Republican, has a long history of battling with his party’s presidential nominee. Flake has said many times that Trump is unfit to be president and that America deserves far better.
Moderator Chris Wallace from Fox News was almost forced to ask about whether Trump would concede after the results come in on Nov. 8 because Trump has been calling the election “rigged” for quite some time, and he said it again Wednesday night.
“(Hillary) shouldn’t be allowed to run [for president]. She’s guilty of a very, very serious crime. She should not be allowed to run, and just in that respect, I say it’s rigged,” Trump said. “She should never have been allowed to run for the presidency based on what she did with emails and so many other things.”
Other Arizona officials are worried that the election this year may be rigged, but one Republican U.S. Sen. said if Trump loses, it won’t be because of any foul play.
My thoughts on a 'rigged' presidential election. pic.twitter.com/075n83NXMH
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 20, 2016
Arizona State University presidential historian Brooks Simpson said something has happened in this year’s election that hasn’t happened in almost 150 years.
“Back in 1876, there was a disputed presidential election, in fact, in which Democrats in particular, who supported the candidate of New Yorker Samuel J. Tilden, actually threatened violence if the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes claimed the White House, as he eventually did,” Simpson said.
“But we’ve not had anybody state prior to people voting on Election Day that they’re already getting ready to contest the results of an election, and so in this way as in many others, this election has broken new ground.”
Immediately after the debate, Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was interviewed by many networks and she brought up the election of George W. Bush over Al Gore in 2000 when Gore contested the results. It was her attempt to give some context on what the Republican presidential nominee meant on the stage.
Trump campaign manager @KellyannePolls walks off on @DanaBashCNN mid-interview just moments after the debate https://t.co/JN34ecnjvo
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 20, 2016
