Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine said Donald Trump’s refusal during Wednesday’s debate to say he’d automatically accept the election results was a “shocker” and that Mr. Trump is trying to “pull the central pillar down.”
“It was a shocker. There were other shockers last night, but that was the biggest one,” Mr. Kaine said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day.”
Mr. Kaine said he learned from his experience working as a missionary in Honduras, where there was a military dictatorship, that the acceptance of an outcome of an election and the peaceful transfer of power is a “pillar” of U.S. democracy.
“After an insult-driven campaign where Donald has insulted virtually everybody, now he’s trying to pull the central pillar down, and I can’t imagine why he would do that, except for the reason that Hillary pointed out,” he said.
“If he thinks things are going against him, if he thinks he’s going to lose, he’s going to claim it’s all rigged against him,” Mr. Kaine said.
“He did it with the Emmy awards, for gosh sake, and he even tried to argue last night that the Emmy award was wrong and he should have won it,” he said. “He can’t take responsibility, and that’s an important trait.”
Mr. Kaine said if Democrats win a mandate, Mr. Trump might not retain enough followers to be relevant if he refuses to concede.
“Whether or not he concedes is probably irrelevant. The question is, is the mandate clear on the eighth of November?” Mr. Kaine said.
“Donald is still going to whine if he loses, but if the mandate is clear, I don’t think many people will follow him,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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