<u+201c>this is exactly what al gore did,<u+201d> said former rudy giuliani of donald trump's refusal to say he'd concede a loss.  | getty trump allies were grasping after the debate to defend his suggestion he might not accept the outcome on nov. 8. by kyle cheney 10/19/16 11:54 pm edt updated 10/20/16 12:48 am edt las vegas <u+2014> donald trump sent supporters scrambling for new talking points after he flouted allies and advisers by suggesting he might not accept the election results if he loses. and they seem to have settled on one defense: al gore did it, too. story continued below <u+201c>this is exactly what al gore did,<u+201d> said former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, who emerged in the spin room after the final presidential debate here. <u+201c>it was their democrat, al gore.<u+201d> moments later, sen. jeff sessions echoed the point: <u+201c>al gore lost his challenge,<u+201d> sessions said, adding that he disagreed with gore<u+2019>s challenge in the first place. kellyanne conway, trump<u+2019>s campaign manager, also cited gore, telling reporters that the <u+201c>extraordinary<u+201d> circumstances that occurred in the 2000 election could occur again. their arguments are a revision of history though: gore was largely lauded for pursuing <u+2013> and ultimately dropping <u+2013> his challenge to the election results in 2000. florida's vote count that year showed gore losing by a fraction of a percentage point to bush, just a few hundred votes. gore pursued a recount and legal options, before accepting defeat after the supreme court ruled. <u+201c>i accept the finality of the outcome, which will be ratified next monday in the electoral college,<u+201d> gore said on dec. 13, 2000. <u+201c>and tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, i offer my concession.<u+201d> 2016 by eli stokols trump reignited controversy during the debate when he refused repeatedly to say whether he<u+2019>d accept the results of the november election <u+2013> one he<u+2019>s already asserted, without proof, is being subverted my large-scale voter fraud. <u+201c>if you look at your voter rolls, you'll see millions of people that are registered to vote. millions,<u+201d> he said. trump added that clinton shouldn<u+2019>t be <u+201c>allowed<u+201d> to run because <u+201c>she's guilty of a very, very serious crime.<u+201d> (clinton hasn<u+2019>t been convicted of a crime but trump has insisted she<u+2019>s guilty of lying to the fbi and mishandling classified information.) <u+201c>she should not be allowed to run, and just in that respect i say it's rigged because she should never <u+2014> chris. she should never have been allowed to run for the presidency based on what she did with e-mails and so many other things.<u+201d> pressed by moderator chris wallace about whether he<u+2019>d uphold the country<u+2019>s tradition of peaceful transfers of power, trump concluded, <u+201c>i'll tell you at the time. i'll keep you in suspense, okay?<u+201d> the reaction to his remarks exploded on twitter on both sides of the aisle. <u+201c>@realdonaldtrump saying that he might not accept election results is beyond the pale,<u+201d> tweeted arizona gop sen. jeff flake. south carolina sen. lindsey graham, another republican, issued a statement saying that <u+201c>mr. trump is doing the party and country a great disservice by continuing to suggest the outcome of this election is out of his hands and <u+2018>rigged<u+2019> against him.<u+201d> democrats were equally eager to skewer trump for his suggestion. "trump's refusal to accept results of upcoming election is horrifying," tweeted senate minority leader harry reid. "he must immediately reverse course and say he will accept the results." 2016 by matthew nussbaum but trump<u+2019>s surrogates suggested trump<u+2019>s comments are prudent because the outcome of the election is unknown <u+2013> and if it<u+2019>s close, it<u+2019>s worth monitoring before accepting. <u+201c>if they<u+2019>re legit results, then of course they<u+2019>ll be accepted,<u+201d> said former alaska gov. sarah palin. it<u+2019>s smart, she said to first ensure that <u+201c>everything<u+2019>s legit.<u+201d> trump<u+2019>s reiteration of his claim that he may not trust the election results flouted the remarks made by his senior aides and even his running mate mike pence earlier this week. conway said trump would accept the election results if he lost, echoing pence who said the campaign would <u+201c>absolutely<u+201d> uphold the results. after the debate, though, conway said only that that she<u+2019>d encourage trump to accept the results of the election if he lost <u+201c>absent evidence of widespread abuse and irregularities.<u+201d> pence, too, qualified his earlier certainty, telling reporters that he and trump would accept the outcome of the election <u+201c>if the vote is fair.<u+201d> "what donald trump said tonight... i think he's made a point that is resonating with millions of americans," pence said. the move to invoke gore before the election results are known struck a discordant note. republicans at the time <u+2013> including bush himself <u+2013> praised gore<u+2019>s decision to concede as a validation of america<u+2019>s commitment to peaceful transfers of power. <u+201c> i ... salute the vice president," bush said, and "am thankful for america and thankful that we are able to resolve our electoral differences in a peaceful way.<u+201d> by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
republicans: gore refused to accept election results, too - politico
kyle cheney eli stokols matthew nussbaum jack shafer