Trump refuses to say if he will accept election result
Who won the final debate?
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4.54am BST
The third and final presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle is in the can. Here’s what happened:
@lucia_graves @guardian Trump lied and lied again. He says he doesn't know any of the women. Well, he definitely knew me. I told the truth
SUCH A NASTY WOMAN #suchanastywoman pic.twitter.com/csWXsvvtGG
Trump: "We have some bad hombres here and we are going to get 'em out"
For the first time, the madness of Trump's ideas rather than the madness of his manner are taking centre stage at tonight's debate.
4.34am BST
In a brief but jarringly vicious aside towards the end of the debate, Trump leaned in to the microphone to call Clinton a “nasty woman”, slightly undermining his earlier assertion that “nobody has more respect for women than me” (a moment which, according to pollster Frank Luntz, did worse with his live focus group than any other in the debate for Trump).
The response from Twitter was swift and merciless.
2012: "I've got binders full of women."
2016: "Such a nasty woman."
Nasty Women 4 Her
Nasty woman and proud of it! I hope all you nasty women join us in NYC and Denver to protest next week! https://t.co/HyzXL61zBw #nastywoman
RT if you're a #NastyWoman pic.twitter.com/I3mBfrv8lP
I can see the meme now. "It's Hillary...Mrs. Clinton if you're nasty." Apologies to Janet Jackson. #debatenight #Election2016 pic.twitter.com/tqcpo95g0l
I'm just gonna leave this here. #nastywoman #debate pic.twitter.com/FRyl8XLfc0
4.19am BST
The chair of the national party joins the crowd rebutting Trump on accepting the election result:
RNC Chair Reince Priebus says Trump WILL accept the results of the election
Trump himself pointedly refused -- twice -- to commit to doing so. https://t.co/PvPe4vpg9R
Trump/RNC surrogates: "Who you gonna believe, me or the candidate you just watched on stage?"
VIDEO: Donald Trump refuses to say he will accept election results https://t.co/Cvnf87AE6Z
4.15am BST
Here now is Sarah Palin, in the spin room, looking a bit cornered but firing away. She’s asked about accepting the results of the election. “If they’re legit results then of course they’ll be accepted,” she says.
Palin says Trump will accept election results if they are "legit results" pic.twitter.com/9fvzz5zLBC
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“Such a nasty woman”
I just want some respect (That's right) #debate #nasty https://t.co/fhd60FtpcZ
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This from Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s most stalwart backer in the senate, who we can’t remember ever having disagreed significantly with the candidate to this point:
Jeff Sessions in spin room: "It would be wrong for a candidate to contest an election for light and transient reasons."
Trump, enemy of democracy:
1) My opponent shouldn't be allowed to run
2) If I lose, I may dispute outcome
3) If I win, she will go to jail.
4.06am BST
Two Republican senators have condemned Trump’s refusal to say he will accept the result of the election. Arizona’s Jeff Flake (see earlier) and now Lindsey Graham of South Carolina:
My thoughts on a 'rigged' presidential election. pic.twitter.com/075n83NXMH
Your move, Paul Ryan/ Mitch McConnell. https://t.co/d0kIgIfLcw
4.03am BST
That was really exciting. Made all of my points. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
3.57am BST
Trump has departed the debate venue, his campaign tells his assigned media pool.
3.56am BST
Easy for her to say.
The Emmys are NOT rigged. @VeepHBO @HillaryClinton @realDonaldTrump #debatenight
3.56am BST
@DouthatNYT it's all a big show for him
.@realDonaldTrump to @HillaryClinton: "Such a nasty woman" pic.twitter.com/3RsCYd7Abp
SUCH A NASTY WOMAN #suchanastywoman pic.twitter.com/csWXsvvtGG
So "the element of surprise" is Trump's approach to both ISIS and American democracy I guess.
The candidate who already is eight points behind just suffere a devastating final debate. #DebateNight
If Donald Trump wins will he accept the results of this election?
.@realDonaldTrump saying that he might not accept election results is beyond the pale
Says @VanJones68: "You can't polish this turd" @AC360 responds: "Technically, you can't polish any turd." #Debate
20 days left. Let's win this.
Make your custom video to show the world why you believe that #LoveTrumpsHate: https://t.co/QQBKlxyU4D
Join my team over on my Facebook page- live now! #Debateshttps://t.co/vpDVQfO58A pic.twitter.com/5v1tWzHrxq
3.48am BST
Lawyer Gloria Allred announces that a “woman who accuses Donald Trump of victimizing her with inappropriate sexual conduct will hold a press conference tomorrow”:
BRK: Gloria Allred announces a new Trump sexual assault victim will come forward on Thursday. #debate pic.twitter.com/9RdemgnNHr
3.46am BST
The five words that matter most in this debate: "I'll keep you in suspense."
nothing in this debate, nothing in this campaign, nothing in this country matters as much as Trump rejecting USA's 240 year democratic order
"You are such a nasty man"—Something Hillary could never, in a thousand years, say on a stage.
Palin at her most rogue held it together 10x better than this overboiled carrot.
Now Kellyanne Conway tells @DanaBashCNN that Trump "will accept the results" of the election. Says Trump will win.
God @KellyannePolls has just an impossible job.
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#ff
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump do not shake hands after the debate.
It's the longest possible time until we have to sit through another presidential debate.
Savor this moment, America. pic.twitter.com/EM9tDAxGzh
The debates will end with not a single question asked about climate change.
3.41am BST
Here are the top three tweeted moments of the debate according to Twitter:
Top 3 tweeted moments of the debate via Twitter pic.twitter.com/ppTOPyx3BX
Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?
3.40am BST
Trump: “Next week [the healthcare premiums] are going to go up 100%”
Trump and Clinton both accept the reality that healthcare premiums have increased since the Affordable Care Act was enacted, but Trump appears to be exaggerating wildly. On average, premiums have risen by about 5.8% a year since Barack Obama took office, compared with 13.2% in the nine years before Obama, Politifact found earlier this year. Trump, however, is cherry-picking data from various states and providers where rates have had higher jumps. The most common healthcare plans will increase 9% on average, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
3.38am BST
Who won? What was the headline? Trump saying he would keep the country in suspense as to whether he will accept the election result? What was that?
3.38am BST
Our post-debate panel is starting now – it’s live! Join WNYC and the Guardian US live from Tumblr headquarters as we discuss the final presidential debate.
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Wallace: Let’s end this nicely. Closing statements. One minute, go.
Clinton: I’m reaching out to all Americans because we need everybody. Let me speak directly to the camera. We need your talents. I’ve seen the presidency up close. Responsibility and opportunity. I have made the cause of children and families my life’s work. That will be my mission. Families against corporate interests. Give me a chance.
3.33am BST
Question for Trump: Would you raise taxes to save Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security?
Trump: We’ll cut taxes, grow economy, repeal and replace Obamacare. Presto. But she wants to make Obamacare even worse.
warm take: Trump may have put a floor under his collapsing campaign with a calmer performance but feels too late and exposes policy instead.
3.32am BST
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Trump: “Our country is stagnant. We’ve lost our jobs”
About 10.7 million people have gained jobs since Barack Obama took office in 2009 (not 15 million as the Clinton campaign sometimes claims). Growth is not stagnant, though it is not significant, and it requires context: the 2008 financial crisis that nearly collapsed the economy. According to a 2015 nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus may have increased GDP buy up to 0.2 percentage points. US growth in the second quarter of 2016 was 1.4%.
3.30am BST
Trump on the debt: I’m going to create a bunch of jobs and hit 6% growth with my “tremendous economic machine.” Protectionism. Trade barriers. “I’m going to create the kind of country that we were from the standpoint of industry.” Trade deals bad. He’s finishing strong. “We have the greatest business people in the world... we use political hacks.” “We have to use our great people.”
Will there be closing statements? This all seems to be ending so... irresolutely.
3.26am BST
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Now Wallace wants to talk about the national debt. Final segment.
Stay tuned for our post-debate panel! We’ll post a live feed as soon as we’re done talking dollars and cents.
3.25am BST
Hillary Clinton urges viewers of the debate to Google “Donald Trump Iraq”. Apparently, a lot of people don’t need the nudge - US searches already spiked at the end of last month. They’re less interested in the former secretary of state’s relationship with the country.
Related: How will new fighting in Iraq affect Trump v Clinton? Probably not much
3.24am BST
Now we’re on to a no-fly zone for Syria. Only a few minutes left here, fewer than 10. Clinton makes the important point that the millions of displaced inside and outside Syria need help.
“I am not going to let anyone into this country who is not vetted... but I am not going to slam the door on women and children... that picture of that little 4-year-old boy with blood coming down his face... that is haunting.”
3.22am BST
Trump is increasingly punchy as the night goes on. Clinton seems to realize that none of this is really dangerous territory for her, for the voters she’s after. She seems to be leaning back a bit, kind of reclining on her hips. Looking at him and nodding and blinking as he rants and waves and gestures.
Current rant: “We don’t know who the rebels are. But if they ever did overthrow Assad... you may very well end up with worse than Assad. And if she did nothing, we’d be in great shape.”
3.19am BST
Clinton: “Once again, Donald is implying that he didn’t support the invasion of Iraq.”
Trump: “Wrong. Wrong.”
3.19am BST
Trump: “These people have all left. The element of surprise … all she had to do was stay there”
Isis has not left Mosul: several thousand fighters remain there and are fighting the coalition of Iraqi and Kuridsh troops, backed by US airstrikes and special forces. Isis leaders have known for years that Baghdad would try to retake the city, if they have not known since they took the city.
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Clinton says Trump has called the election ‘rigged’, while Trump says he won’t necessarily accept the election results
All available evidence shows that in-person voter fraud is exceedingly rare: you are more likely to be struck by lightning in the next year (a one in 1,042,000 chance, according to Noaa) than to find a case of voter fraud by impersonation (31 possible cases in more than a billion ballots cast from 2000 to 2014, according to a study by Loyola Law School).
3.15am BST
Question for Trump: Would you use US troops in Syria or Iraq?
Trump: “Mosul’s so sad. We had Mosul.”
3.15am BST
Voter fraud can be described as nothing other than a “myth”, according to a report released by the Brennan Center at New York University School of Law.
According to the authors “every major study, investigation, and court decision has found little evidence of fraud — and substantial evidence of disenfranchisement. Instead, these claims are used to push restrictive laws that block legitimate voters”.
3.14am BST
Donald Trump went there. Having convicted her of a crime, without trial, Trump has already thrown Clinton in jail for her emails. Now he says, as a convicted felon, Clinton should be punished further, he says. “She shouldn’t be allowed to vote,” he said. “She’s guilty of a very, very serious crime.”
3.13am BST
Trump: “Criminally, after getting a subpoena by the United States Congress, [Clinton deleted emails]. One lie.”
Trump has the timeline correct, but not the criminality. He omits the FBI’s conclusion that there was no evidence of an intentional effort to conceal anything, and the FBI learned that a Clinton aide had asked for the emails unrelated to government work to be deleted in December 2014, months before the 4 March 2015 subpoena.
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Question: What to do to ensure that Isis does not re-fill left behind when they are defeated for example imminently in Mosul?
Clinton: “I am hopeful that hard work that American military advisers have done will pay off but we know we’ve got lots of hard work to do.”
3.11am BST
Trump says there are millions of people registered to vote who shouldn’t be. Then Trump says Clinton should not be allowed to run. “And just in that respect I say that it’s rigged. She should never have been allowed.”
Wallace: “There is a tradition in this country” of a peaceful transfer of power? I’m not saying that you’re necessarily going to be the loser.. are you saying it’s not fair?”
It just shows, you’re not up to doing the job. He is denigrating, he is talking down our democracy, and I for one am appalled that a nominee from one of our two major parties...”
3.10am BST
Politicians aren’t the only ones who are distrusted - so are we, the members of the media and (if this election weren’t already ironic enough) presidential candidate Donald Trump is tapping into those feelings of distrust on live, mainstream media.
According to Gallup, just 32% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the media - down from 54% in 2003.
3.07am BST
Question for Trump: Will you accept the result of the election?
Trump: “I will look at it at the time.”
3.06am BST
Trump: Clinton flip-flopped on the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Trump is right: Clinton has not been consistent on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and her language from 2010 through 2014 suggests she was broadly in support of Barack Obama’s trade deal, before eventually opposing it as a presidential candidate. As secretary of state in 2012, she said: “This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field. And when negotiated, this agreement will cover 40 percent of the world’s total trade and build in strong protections for workers and the environment.”
3.06am BST
Trump says the Trump Foundation money goes to charity. He denies foundation funds were used to pay a penalty to Palm Beach County for a zoning-violating-flagpole.
Clinton: “He hasn’t released his tax returns... what we have learned... he has not paid a penny in federal income tax.
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Question for Clinton: At your senate confirmation you promised no conflict of interest with Clinton foundation. But donors had special access, your emails show. Did you keep your pledge?
Clinton: “Everything I did as secretary of state was in furtherance of our country’s interest and our values. ... but I am happy, in fact I am thrilled to talk about the Clinton foundation, because it is a world-renowned charity.”
3.02am BST
Sexual assault happens every day. What makes the allegations against Trump rare is not just who Trump is, it’s that the allegations were ever even heard. Only two out of three sexual assaults are reported to the police according to Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Of the sexual violence crimes that were not reported to police from 2005-2010, victims provided reasons for not reporting the incident. They included:
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Trump: “Nobody has more respect for women than I do.” (There is some audience laughter at this. “And frankly those stories have been debunked. And I want to talk about something slightly different.”
Watch: Chris Wallace had to shush the crowd after they laughed when Trump said "nobody has more respect for women than I do." pic.twitter.com/bkathsU3Lu
So it’s not one thing. This is a pattern. A pattern of divisiveness... that is not who America is, and I hope that as we move to the last weeks of this campaign, more and more people understand what’s at stake.
2.59am BST
@lucia_graves @guardian Trump lied and lied again. He says he doesn't know any of the women. Well, he definitely knew me. I told the truth
2.56am BST
Clinton: “At the last debate, we heard Donald talking about what he did to women. And we had a number of women coming forward saying that’s what he did to them.”
Clinton says Trump said that he could not have possibly done that because they weren’t attractive enough.
2.55am BST
Here’s another way Donald Trump isn’t fit to be president.
In attempting to re-up a favorite talking point of his about Clinton’s general dishonesty, Trump said Clinton is “a liar on so many different ways”.
2.54am BST
Next topic: fitness to be president.
Wallace asks Trump about the nine women who have accused him in recent weeks of groping and or kissing them. Why would they do that?
2.53am BST
Trump: Obama has doubled the debt
Trump has the raw numbers just about right. When Obama took office on 20 January 2009, the federal debt was $10.63tn. As of 28 September 2016, it was $19.5tn. Trump omits, however, two key points: Congress controls the government’s wallet (ie Obama cannot spend or tax without approval from lawmakers), and Obama took office during the financial crisis, when Republicans, Democrats and most economists agreed that the US needed to spend in order to counteract the collapsing economy. Pence has the right numbers but imputes too much responsibility on the president.
2.52am BST
Clinton’s parallel histories of the last 30 years is effective. She draws a contrast between killing bin Laden and Trump running Celebrity Apprentice.
Trump says he’s proud of her experience. Then he says “Take a look at Syria.”
2.51am BST
Clinton gets to reply on trade. She says the final TPP agreement did not meet her test. We’ve heard that explanation many times. “There’s only one of us onstage that’s shipped jobs to Mexico, and that’s Donald, who has shipped jobs to 12 countries... Donald has bought Chinese steel and aluminum, in fact the Trump hotel right here in Las Vegas is made with Chinese steel.”
He is stone faced. Speak, Trump:
2.50am BST
Trump: “The border patrol agents, 16,500 plus, ICE, endorsed me. First time they’ve ever endorsed a candidate”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a government agency. It does not endorse political candidates. A union representing about 7,600 ICE officials endorsed Trump in September. A group representing 16,500 of 21,000 border patrol agents similarly endorsed Trump; this does not represent all the agents.
My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, some time in the future with energy that is as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere.
Trump says you won't find a quote from me suggesting Japan gets nuclear weapons..... err.... #debate pic.twitter.com/TMtvOeJiwq
2.47am BST
Wallace says that conservative economists have scored his plan and found it unrealistic.
“I just left some high representatives of India, they’re growing at 8%... we are growing at the 1% level and I think it’s going down. ... last week they came out with anemic jobs report. And I said, is that the last jobs report before the election, because if it is, I should win easily.”
2.45am BST
Wallace tells Clinton her jobs plan was like the Obama stimulus plan which did not produce strong growth.
“Right,” Trump interjects, smiling. He can’t stay off the mic. We’re halfway through.
2.43am BST
Clinton: “Let me translate that if I can.”
Trump: “You can’t.” That was a bit rude.
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Trump charges ahead. “I’m a big fan of Nato.” How did he get here? Did we fall asleep? We thought we were on taxes. Let’s tune back into Trump. “We’ve doubled our national debt. We’re up to $20tn in debt.”
Did he just say “we’re going to have more free trade than we have right now”? That’s what it sounded like. Couldn’t have been though, from the cycle’s most protectionist candidate ...
2.40am BST
Trump: “Her plan is going to raise taxes... her tax plan is a disaster.”
For the first time, the madness of Trump's ideas rather than the madness of his manner are taking centre stage at tonight's debate.
2.39am BST
Clinton: Trump exploited undocumented workers
Clinton is not quite right. A Trump contractor hired undocumented Polish workers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and in 1983 union members sued one of their organizers. Trump appeared in court in 1990 and blamed the contractor overseeing the project, which was for Trump Tower.
2.39am BST
Now on to taxes and spending and regulation! Whee.
Question: why will you create more jobs and growth?
2.37am BST
Less than 30 minutes in, an exchange on Roe v Wade has put things in perspective, and Clinton has already accomplished what she needed to do tonight: calmly display how Trump has no idea what he’s talking about when it comes to actual policy.
After Trump said abortion supporters like Clinton want to “rip the baby out of the womb in the 9th month,” Clinton cooly corrected his misinformation. “that is not what happens,” Clinton replied, calling this “scare rhetoric”.
2.37am BST
Clinton: “I find it ironic that he raises nuclear weapons.” She says he’s been cavalier and “terrifying” on the issue.
“The bottom line is, when the president gives the order, it must be followed,” Clinton says. She says ten people who have their fingers actually on the triggers have come out to say they would not trust Trump.
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Trump interrupts: She has no idea. She has no idea. Hillary you have no idea.
“She doesn’t like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her every step of the way. Putin has outsmarted her in Syria...”
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Trump says “I don’t know Putin. If we got along well, good ... He has no respect for her. He has no respect for our president ... 1,800 nuclear warheads and she’s playing chicken...”
Clinton has a whopper of a line: “That’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”
2.32am BST
Trump: “If you go with what Hillary is saying in the ninth month you can rip the baby out of the womb of the mother … up to the last day.”
Clinton does not support such an extreme view on abortion, nor have courts ever ruled such a late term operation legal, or suggested that they would. States vary on how late they allow abortions, ranging from a ban six weeks after a woman’s last menstrual period (North Dakota) to three states with third-trimester abortion bans. There are nine states without specific term prohibitions, but clinics do not abort at such late terms: only 1.2% of abortions occur after 21 weeks, according to the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute.
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Wallace quotes from a Clinton email released by Wikileaks in which she says, “My dream is a hemispheric common market with open trade and with open borders.”
Trump: “Thank you.”
Clinton: What’s really important about Wikileaks is that the Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans... this has come from the highest levels... from Putin himself... to influence this election.
2.28am BST
Donald Trump has returned to a recurring theme of his candidacy - that immigrants drive up crime. It’s a false claim.
Since 1990, violent crime rates have fallen as immigration to the US has risen. The American Immigration Council analyzed the 2010 American Community Survey and found that roughly 1.6% of immigrant males age 18-39 are incarcerated, compared to 3.3% of the native-born.
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Trump points out that Barack Obama has increased deportations. “We even have a country or we don’t. ... Now you can come back in and you can become a citizen.”
This is a relatively moderate Trump speaking. He sounds almost... reasonable, if you can get past any policy disagreement you might have with him.
2.27am BST
Trump with a bombshell: “Hillary Clinton wanted the wall.”
Clinton: “I voted for border security and there are some limited places where that was appropriate.. but it is clear when you look at what Donald has been proposing... that he has a very different view about what we should do.”
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It didn’t work at his convention, but at this late stage of the election, Donald Trump has nowhere left to go. Undocumented immigrants are murderers and rapists. The country is in mortal danger. Heroin is poisoning the blood of the youth. The problem for Trump is that scare tactics didn’t work in the summer, and they’re not working in the fall. All those supposedly bad, bad people don’t drive lots and lots of votes.
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Clinton: I met a young girl in Las Vegas. Karla. She was born in this country. Her parent were not. She’s worried. “I don’t want to rip families apart. I don’t want to be sending parents away from children. I don’t want to see the deportation force that Donald has talked about in action in our country.”
“It means you would have to have a massive law enforcement presence... rounding up people who were undocumented. And we would have to put them on trains on buses to get them out of the country.. I think that it is an idea that would rip our country apart.”
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The candidates strongly disagree on abortion - and so does the US public. Polling from Gallup suggests that national opinion is split almost equally on this subject, and has been for four decades.
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Trump: "We have some bad hombres here and we are going to get 'em out"
2.23am BST
On to immigration.
Trump: He says Clinton wants to “give them amnesty.” He says four mothers in the crowd have children who were killed by “illegal immigrants.” “You have no borders you have no country.” “ICE endorsed me.” “I was up in New Hampshire..many of the problems caused by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama...heroin. We have to have strong borders.”
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Who’s winning? Have your say
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This is an extremely well-behaved debate so far. Nothing here that wouldn’t fit in your high school library. On topic, on-point rebuttals...
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Trump: “If you go with what Hillary is saying, you can take the baby, in the ninth month, and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother.. it’s not OK with me.”
Clinton: “That is not what happens in these cases, and using this kind of scare rhetoric is just terribly unfortunate. You should meet some of the women who have been affected.”
2.19am BST
Trump: “We will have a second amendment that is a very small replica of what it is now” in a Clinton administration
Trump is being reductive: Clinton has never called for abolishing the second amendment, the right to bear arms, though she does support gun control measures such as an assault weapons ban, increased background checks and greater liability for manufacturers.
2.18am BST
Wallace goes further into the details of abortion policy. Clinton is right there with him. How far should abortion protections extend. She says that Roe v Wade takes into account the health of a mother, which she says often applies in late-term pregnancies where abortion is a possibility.
“I do not think the United States government should be stepping in in those most personal of decisions.”
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Next up, abortion. Do you want the court to overturn Roe v Wade?
Trump: “If that will happen ... I would think that that would go back to the individual states.”
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Trump is asked why he supports a national right-to-carry law.
Trump replies that Chicago has a lot of gun violence despite its tough gun laws. “I’m very proud to have the endorsement of the NRA,” he says.
2.14am BST
Different twist for Trump. Do you think Clinton will protect it?
Trump says that Clinton was “ignorant” of the DC v Heller decision and “upset.”
2.12am BST
Wallace introduces a twist. He quotes Clinton saying, “The supreme court is wrong on the second amendment.”
Clinton explains. “I support the second amendment,” she says. “I understand and respect the tradition of gun ownership.”
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Now Trump.
He has a coarse voice? Hoarse voice?
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Clinton goes first. She thanks everyone.
The supreme court raises “central issues,” she says. What kind of country will we be?
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First question is about the supreme court. Where do you want to see the court take the country and what’s your view on how the constitution should be interpreted?
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Here are the candidates. Clinton is in white. Trump in red tie. They don’t come within 50 feet of one another and settle behind their lecterns.
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OK we’re starting. Good luck all.
2.03am BST
The families are seated. They didn’t shake hands as in the first two debates. This new arrangement was per a Clinton campaign request after it emerged that at the second debate the Trump team had wanted Bill Clinton’s accusers to file in with the Trumps to confront Bill Clinton.
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In case you had forgotten, both of the presidential candidates in this final debate are deeply unpopular. Both are viewed unfavorably by over half of the US population according to polling averages. So whoever “wins” this debate and whoever becomes US president, a lot of Americans are going to feel unhappy the day after the election.
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For usage specialists:
I will be live-tweeting the debate tonight—in a nonpartisan way—on the candidates' grammar and usage. Stay tuned.
1.59am BST
Here comes Chris Wallace, the moderator. He wishes everyone a good evening. And says “be quiet.”
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What can it mean
I will be handing over my Twitter account to my team of deplorables for tonight's #debate#MakeAmericaGreatAgain
Got her back? #DebateNight pic.twitter.com/GpNCJMEOGM
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Here is a live video stream of the debate hall:
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If you’re just joining us – welcome to our live-wire coverage of the third and final presidential debate in the 2016 presidential contest. We’re almost home now.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will face off starting at 9pm ET in Las Vegas. The debate will last 90 minutes, with Fox News’ Chris Wallace moderating.
No TV, no problem: How to watch tonight's final presidential #debate (By @hwise) https://t.co/bVFFZTeycT
Related: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to square off at final presidential debate
Woman on Vegas street: "Why all the police?"
Cop: "For the debate tonight."
Woman: "Debate? What debate?"
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.
Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.”
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We wanted to repost this logistical information in case it’s useful. We’ll have a live video stream here shortly before the event begins.
What: Third presidential debate
Spoiler alert: He was actually wrong. #Debate pic.twitter.com/EVaiJio993
1.31am BST
If the last three presidential elections are anything to go by (and so far, they haven’t been), tonight’s debate is unlikely to have a huge impact on polling figures. After the DNC, Hillary Clinton got a significant boost in polling averages, as is often the case after the party conventions. Debates, on the other hand, especially final debates, tend to have a smaller impact on public opinion unless there is a very clear winner. That’s partly just a matter of timing - with just 20 days to go until the election, most people have made up their minds and so polls tend to fluctuate less.
1.27am BST
Here’s activist Tom Moran, inside Trump at a rally at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas earlier today:
1.19am BST
Tough luck for whoever’s behind him:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets a front row seat for #Debatenight at @UNLV pic.twitter.com/mOGyYsLCES
1.18am BST
Assuming we all make it through all 90 minutes of this, we have an invitation we’d like to extend.
We’ve joined forces with WNYC and Tumblr to throw a Pop-Up Debate Party at Tumblr’s headquarters where, after the debate, we’ll be hosting a post-debate flash panel featuring:
Loving these buttons at this @GuardianUS / @WNYC / @tumblr debate party like the true millennial that I am pic.twitter.com/wq5qcq1GoJ
1.07am BST
Trump’s running mate makes the supreme court argument – whatever you think of Trump, the argument to wavering Republicans goes, you certainly cannot accept the prospect of Hillary Clinton nominating supreme court justices.
Pence on CNN: "The Supreme Court is literally on the ballot"
I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,” he declared.
1.01am BST
There are many forms of political punditry that seem always to miss the mark. Post-debate analysis comes to mind. Also, pre-debate analysis. Every description in advance of what we expect to happen onstage – the candidate chemistry, the tone, the issues they must surely discuss – those predictions seem unfailingly to miss.
So let’s give it another whirl. What will they discuss tonight? Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News will have questions cued to the six topic areas announced in advance: debt and entitlements, immigration, economy, the supreme court, foreign hotspots and fitness to be president.
12.37am BST
Confirmed: Wayne Newton is coming.
Our #debate2016 guests tonight include Marcus Luttrell, Pat Smith, and the legendary Wayne Newton.
Tonight. #PieceOfMe is back.
I. Can’t. Wait!!! Missed you, Vegas! pic.twitter.com/MQo0bDghX2
12.30am BST
Every day it becomes clearer that Hillary Clinton is going to make history and win the presidential election. It’s hard to feel excited or even relieved, though, when her road to victory is so slick with the odium of Donald Trump.
Between the video of Trump bragging about sexual assault and woman after woman coming forward to claim he did just that, it’s hard to stave off that sick-to-your-stomach feeling Michelle Obama described so powerfully last week. For those of us who have endured a lifetime of unwanted leers and touches, this last leg of the campaign has been painful. And as Trump surrogates and supporters –even his wife – continue to shrug off the offenses as “locker room talk” or outright lies, we’re reminded of just how easily women are disbelieved.
Related: The silver lining of Trump's misogyny? More men are decrying his ways | Jessica Valenti
12.24am BST
About 126.9m votes were cast in the 2012 presidential election. It’s started:
As this evening's debate approaches: at least 2.3 million people have already voted
This guy! https://t.co/kN6T2eNz11
12.11am BST
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway is proud to be joined at the debate by Malik Obama, the president’s half-brother:
Malik Obama and I hanging post-debate prep today. He told me why he is a Republican and voting for @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/sAGXDj4GHg
As Obama biographer, I dealt with many Kenyan relatives. Now Trumpster Malik by far the least reliable, consumed with pub & money.
3) He has gone by 32 names during his life. Roy, Bobby, and finally Malik.
8) By the time Barack Obama reached global fame, Malik wanted to be his Kenyan spokesman, setting up shop in Kisumu and Kogelo.
11.59pm BST
A new Pew research survey finds that “more than seven in ten (72%) white evangelical Protestants say an elected official can behave ethically even if they have committed transgressions in their personal life—a 42-point jump from 2011, when only 30 % of white evangelical Protestants said the same.”
What changed? And does this even count as a voting bloc anymore, if the whole “family values” thing has been jettisoned?
White evangelicals have jumped 42 pts (!) in accepting politicians' immoral personal acts: 30% (2011) to 72% (2016) https://t.co/VHqP8r5BU0 pic.twitter.com/ohhWsXt5b0
11.54pm BST
The Cleveland Indians (that’s baseball) have just won the pennant and are headed to the World Series. The governor noticed:
Amazing! Four wins away from a second Cleveland championship in 2016. All of Ohio, let's #RallyTogether for the World Series. @Indians pic.twitter.com/Z9uUGaanQd
11.50pm BST
We know what you’re all thinking. Where’s the vacuuming picture? When are we going to post the pre-debate vacuuming picture?
Mr. Trump owned casinos in Atlantic City for decades but never had any gambling interests in Nevada. The casinos he developed and owned in Atlantic City went through bankruptcy four times. He no longer has any interest them.
The Trump hotel in Las Vegas is near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip. It is across from the Wynn Las Vegas, but the rest of the surrounding area is largely underdeveloped because several large-scale projects stopped when they were only partially built during the recession. Now with the casino market in Las Vegas improving, some of the projects have new owners and may be moving forward. Gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip was flat last year, but revenue from hotel room rates improved.
11.32pm BST
She’s with her.
11.29pm BST
Former vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, also a former governor of Alaska and former Fox News contractor, will attend tonight’s debate as a guest of Donald Trump, CNN reports.
Is this a great opportunity to revisit Palin’s historic on-camera endorsement of Trump in January? Can I get a hallelujah?
1) Some basic facts about Malik Obama, who will be at the presidential debate as guest of Donald Trump in Las Vegas tonight.
Cant wait to give a big hug to my bestie @realDonaldTrump at the debate tomorrow night. I know you miss me !
11.08pm BST
Reminder: As ugly as things get onstage tonight, tomorrow night these people have to eat next to one another.
Trump and Clinton have both said they’ll attend the annual Al Smith dinner Thursday night, “the white-tie Manhattan ritual that drops like an Alka Seltzer every four years, as the race for the White House enters a stage of maximum partisan discomfort,” we said in 2012.
Hosted by the archbishop of New York, the dinner promotes itself as a light-hearted break from the campaign trail. In fact it’s a duty to which presidential nominees have docilely submitted since 1960, except when the whiff of controversy, usually over abortion, has made it politically inconvenient for the Catholic Church to invite them.
10.58pm BST
A new University of New Hampshire poll has Trump down 15 (fifteen) points in the state, where he notched a 20-point victory in February in a solid six-way primary contest. The National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar <a hr