Donald Trump has refused to say if he would respect the result of the US presidential election in the final candidates’ debate.
The Republican candidate would not respond directly to moderator, Fox journalist, Chris Wallace’s question about whether he would concede defeat if he were to lose the election.
“What I am saying is I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense, OK," he said.
"I will look at it at the time."
"The media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile-on is so amazing," Mr Trump said, referring in part to widespread press reports citing women accusing him of sexual assault, which he also said were drummed up by Team Clinton.
He went on to allege that "millions" of fake voters had been registered and that the 68-year-old Mrs Clinton should not even have been allowed to run because she mishandled classified State Department emails.
Democrat candidate, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton mocked Mr Trump, saying he had a mindset that things were rigged against him.
"Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims, whatever it is, is rigged against him," she said.
"I'm appalled that someone would take that position. It is troubling. But it is also really funny, the way Donald thinks."
In a confrontational debate the candidates clashed repeatedly over undocumented immigrants, abortion, immigration and the conflicts in Mosul and Aleppo, as well their plans for the future of the economy and national debt.
'Such a nasty woman'
But it was one comment Mr Trump made that many have highlighted as the moment he lost the election.
In response to a question about how she would save Medicare and social security, Mrs Clinton said she was "on record as saying we need to put more money in the social security trust fund".
"My social security pay roll contribution will go up as will Donald's, assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it," she said, only for Mr Trump to interject: "Such a nasty woman".
The comment raised the ire of social media users, both men and women, and prompted an immediate and strong backlash against him and in support of Mrs Clinton.
The tag #SuchANastyWoman fast became a synonymous, for social media users, with smart and capable women and further discredited Mr Trump's insistence that he has "great respect" for women.
Numbers don't add up
Mr Wallace challenged Mr Trump over his economic plan, saying a non-partisan committee had found the numbers did not add up, concerns Mr Trump dismissed.
"I will create tremendous jobs," he said.
"We will have created a tremendous economic machine once again. To do that, we're taking back jobs.”
Mrs Clinton said her plans would “not add a penny to the national debt”.
“When I talk about how we're going to pay for education, how we're going to invest in infrastructure, how we're going to get the cost of prescription drugs down and a lot of the other issues that people talk to me about all the time, I've made it very clear, we are going where the money is,” she said.
"We are going to ask the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share. And there is no evidence whatsoever that that will slow down or diminish our growth. In fact, I think just the opposite."
Mrs Clinton scored an early hit against the Republican property mogul, alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin was backing his run for office.
She cited reports from US intelligence agencies that Russian cyber attacks had targeted her party and campaign and demanded that Trump condemn the interference.
"They have hacked American websites, American accounts of private people, of institutions," she said.
"Then they have given that information to WikiLeaks for the purpose of putting it on the internet."
The Manhattan billionaire dismissed the intelligence reports, declaring: "Our country has no idea".
Mr Trump argued that he might negotiate better relations with Moscow than Mrs Clinton would, declaring: "Putin, from everything I see, has no respect for this person".
Mrs Clinton's response was sharp: "Well, that's because he would rather have a puppet as president of the United States."
Mr Trump blustered back: "No puppet. You're the puppet."
“We have some bad hombres here"
Mrs Clinton turned Mr Trump’s comments on undocumented immigrants on him, saying he employed these people and associated him with employers who exploited them.
“I want to get everybody out of the shadow, get everybody working and not let employers like Donald exploit workers," she said.
However, Mr Trump said undocumented immigrants were dangerous.
“One of the first acts is to get all the drug lords, we have bad, bad people in this country who have to go out,” he said.
“We have some bad hombres here.
"We are going to get them out, secure the border and once the border is secured at a later date we will make a determination as to the rest," he said.
Abortion was one of the first topics that brought the candidates into conflict, with Mrs Clinton slamming Donald Trump for his language in discussing late term abortions.
“If you go with what Hillary is saying you can take it in the ninth month, take the baby and rip the baby from the womb of the mother just prior to the birth, the day before," he said.
“It is not acceptable.”
"That is not what happens in those kinds of cases and using that kind of scare rhetoric is unfortunate," Mrs Clinton said.
Mrs Clinton said she supported late-term abortions when the mother’s health was at risk.
In discussing the conflicts in Mosul and Aleppo, Mr Trump blamed both situations on Mrs Clinton and her actions during her time as secretary of state.
"Two years ago, three years ago [President Obama] aligned with Russia and also with Iran, who we made more powerful,” he said.
"We gave them $1.7 billion in cash - I mean cash, bundles of cash as big as - bundles of cash as big at this stage, $1.7 billion. Now, he has aligned with Russia and Iran.
"This is the cause of the great migration, the tens of thousands Syrians who are probably, not probably, definitely, ISIS-aligned and we now have them in our country."
Mrs Clinton said she would not put American boots on the ground, but would instead impose a no-fly zone over Syria and work towards a political solution.
She also debunked Mr Trump’s repeated claims she was going to allow any immigrants into the country.
“I am not going to allow anyone into this country who is not vetted, who we do not have confidence in," she said.
"But I am not going to slam the door on women and children.
"In fact, the killer of the dozens of people at the nightclub in Orlando, the Pulse Nightclub, was born in Queens - the same place Donald was born.
"So let's be clear about what the threat is and how we are best going to be able to meet it."
In their final pitches to voters at the end of the debate, Mrs Clinton said she had devoted her life to working for children and families.
“I will stand up for families against powerful interests, against corporations, I will do everything that I can to make sure that you have good jobs with rising incomes, that your kids have good educations from preschool through college. I hope you will give me a chance to serve as your president,” she said.
Mr Trump said he was going to make America great again.
"We have a depleted military, it has to be fixed," he said.
"We don't take care of our veterans, we take care of our illegal immigrants better than our vets, it can't happen.
"We are going to make America strong again and make America great again and it has to start now. We cannot take four more years of Barack Obama, and that's what you get when you get her."
Source: AFP
With Reuters, AFP
