Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., rebuked GOP nominee Donald Trump for saying he would accept the results of the Nov. 8 election only if he wins, and said candidates are required to accept election outcomes regardless of whether they win or lose.
“You got to accept the results of this election, win or lose,” the Democratic vice presidential candidate told reporters in North Carolina. “That’s the pledge we made, when Hillary Clinton stood on the stage in the first debate and said, ‘Of course I’m going to accept the results of the election.'”
Trump refused during the presidential debate in Las Vegas Wednesday evening to say whether he would accept the outcome of Election Day.
Instead, the closest the GOP nominee came to answering the question was when he said he would make that determination when the time comes.
“I will keep you in suspense,” Trump said.
The Republican candidate announced later Thursday morning that his accepting the outcome of the election is contingent on whether he is victorious.
“I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters, and to all of the people of the United States, that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic Presidential election — if I win!” Trump’s statement read.
Clinton’s unimpressed running mate quickly joined the chorus of those who claim Trump’s reluctance to say he’ll accept the outcome of Nov. 8 is totally unacceptable.
“This is not a television show,” Kaine told voters in North Carolina. “Keep you in suspense? You got to do better than that.”
He added separately at a different campaign stop, “[He] still thinks he’s saying something positive by saying, ‘I’ll accept the results if I win.’ [It] shows he has a profound misunderstanding [for] the institutions of government, and that he’s trying to do something and upset a tradition that has been one of the most notable features of American life.”
