Before the debate began, the narrative was simple enough: Donald Trump’s biggest problem was his need to demonstrate steady leadership, while Hillary Clinton’s lead allowed her to play defense and take a cautious approach.
That didn’t happen.
Donald Trump didn’t present a reasonable face, because it’s not in his ability. Hillary Clinton didn’t take a timid approach, because it’s not in her nature.
Instead, Hillary Clinton delivered the most forceful presentation of progressive ideas that America has seen in decades. She unabashedly spoke out for women’s right, did not shy away from defending Planned Parenthood, didn’t back away when pressed by either Trump or Wallace — and the two were often aligned — even when questions were framed in the most leading (and inaccurate) ways. Hillary Clinton left no doubt at all who was the toughest person on the stage. She was clear, confident, and absolutely a force of nature.
And Donald Trump … was Donald Trump. As in the second debate, Trump started the debate biting his tongue and making an obvious effort to seem reasonable. But he couldn’t do it. Not for twenty minutes. Not even for the space of the first question, which ended with Trump’s graphic claim that aborted babies were “ripped” from the womb a day before they were due. And that was Trump’s high point.
In the end, Hillary won on every issue. Every. Issue. She didn’t back down. Didn’t dodge. And seized the territory in every instance. This was particularly clear in the case of Wikileaks were, more than just coming up empty trying to convict Hillary via emails, Trump was left mounting a defense of Vladimir Putin, to the point where when Chris Wallace offered him an out, he couldn’t find it, and when Hillary called him a “puppet” of Putin, it hit like a ton of bricks. Trump fumbled on Mosul and ISIS, was caught out on the weakness of his economic plan, and was revealed as beyond shallow on every other point.
When pressed over using Chinese steel in his hotel, and over not paying taxes, Trump’s answer was absolutely astounding—“you should have made me.” It was an amazing admission of selfishness on a grand scale. Far from playing rope-a-dope, Hillary went directly into Trump and landed blow after blow, while barely receiving a tap in return.
In fact, there were a dozen moments in the debate where Trump delivered lines—“I didn’t even apologize to my wife”—that would themselves be memorable as massive, campaign-ending gaffes in most years.
But none of that matters. None of it. Because there was an utterly disqualifying moment in this debate.
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Asked whether he would accept the results of the election, Donald Trump responded by saying…
“I will look at it at the time.”
Asked about it again, Trump talked about voter roles, and millions of people being registered who shouldn’t be. Asked about it again. Trump insisted that Hillary shouldn’t be allowed to run.
Asked once again by an absolutely incredulous Chris Wallace, Donald Trump still refused to say that he would accept the outcome of the election.
“I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense.”
Suspense? Donald Trump not only has a surprise plan for attacking ISIS. He has a surprise plan for attacking the United States.
A major party candidate, running in the election for President of the United States, refused to say that he would abide by the outcome of that election.
Frankly, they should have stopped the debate at that point. What’s the purpose of discussing anything with a man who has essentially said that he, and he alone, will determine who gets to be president? It was the moment when Donald Trump stopped running for president, and started running for … dictator? King? Reich Chancellor?
It doesn’t matter. Because what he’s not going to be is president.