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Abortion, ISIS, Putin & Democracy: The Presidential Debate's Most Definitive Moments
By - THE CITIZEN BUREAU
Update: 2016-10-20 05:00 GMT

NEW DELHI: The third presidential debate ended with the stunning suggestion from Republican candidate Donald Trump that he wouldn’t necessarily accept the election results on November 8. Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton called the suggestion “horrifying” as the two candidates sparred over a range of issues: abortion, sexual misconduct, immigration, ISIS, Iraq and Syria, relations with Russia, social security, etc.

Things got so heated that Trump, whilst Clinton was discussing social security -- saying that she will raise the payroll tax so that high earners like herself and Trump will pay more “assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it” -- Trump cut in with a jibe at Clinton, calling her “such a nasty woman.”

Here are the debate’s most definitive moments.

Trump on abortion: Clinton wants to “rip the baby out of the womb” in final month

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Abortion emerged as a flashpoint in the debate, with Trump claiming that Clinton would allow allow doctors to “rip the baby out of the womb” just days before birth.

Trump, speaking on the subject of the Roe v Wade, said that the decision would be undone if he were to become President, as he would appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court.

Clinton, in contrast, came out in support of women’s rights, saying that she would ensure that the courts uphold Roe v Wade and will maintain government funding for pro-choice organisations such as Planned Parenthood.

“Roe v. wade very clearly sets out that there can be regulations on abortions so long as the life and the health of the mother are taken into account,” Clinton said, adding that, ““The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make …I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions. So, you can regulate if you are doing so with the life and the health of the mother taken into account.”

Trump responded by saying that “I think it’s terrible. If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby,” he said. “Now you can say that’s okay, and Hillary can say that’s okay, but it’s not okay with me. Because based on what she’s saying … you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, in the final day, and that’s not acceptable.”

Trump’s comments sparked a heated reaction on Twitter, with criticism in the form of Trump failing to understand how late stage abortions work.

 Trump on immigration: Deport “bad hombres”



Donald Trump sparked controversy when he threatened to deport “bad hombres.” “We stop the drugs; we shore up the border,” Trump said. “One of my first acts will be to get all the drug lords, we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out. We're going to get them out. We're going to secure the border. And once the border is secured, at a later date, we'll make determination as to the rest. We have some bad hombres and we're going to get them out.”

Clinton neatly responded by saying that Trump, when he met the Mexican President, “he choked” and did not even bring up the wall.

On Putin and Russia



Russia and its President, Vladimir Putin, came up during the debate, with Trump saying that he would like good relations with Putin, and adding that Putin has “no respect” for Clinton.

Clinton cut in saying, “Well, that's because he would rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”

“You’re the puppet,” Trump shot back.

The candidates continued on the subject, with Clinton saying that Russia has attempted to influence the election. “We have 17, 17 intelligence agencies, civilian and military who have all concluded that these espionage attacks, these cyber attacks, come from the highest levels of the Kremlin,” Clinton said. “And they are designed to influence our election. I find that deeply disturbing.”

“She has no idea whether it is Russia, China or anybody else,” Trump said. “She doesn't like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way.”

The sexual assault accusations

The repeated complaints and allegations of sexual assault that have dogged the Trump campaign in recent weeks came up, with Trump saying that “I didn’t even apologize to my wife, who is sitting right here, because I didn’t do anything.” Trump went on to add that the women coming out were either looking for “fame” or had been put up to the task by the Clinton campaign, and then went on to say it was more likely the latter.

There is no proof that the Clinton campaign had anything to do with the allegations.

On the Islamic State, Mosul and Aleppo



When Trump was asked about a statement made at the previous debate, when he had said that Aleppo had fallen, the Republican presidential candidate responded with saying “it is a catastrophe.” Trump then said the plight of the civilians in besieged areas was because of “bad decisions” -- pointing a finger at Clinton. Trump then went on to slam Clinton’s Syria and Iraq strategy.

“If she did nothing, we’d be in much better shape,” Trump said in reference to America’s intervention in the Middle East. “This has caused the great migration, where she’s taking in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees… who probably, in many cases… are ISIS aligned.”

On the subject of Mosul, Trump went as far as suggesting that the campaign to retake the city was launched to help Clinton clinch the Presidency. "The only reason they did it is because she's running for the office of president and they want to look tough," Trump said. "They want to look good."

"I'm just amazed that he seems to think that the Iraqi government and our allies and everybody else launched the attack on Mosul to help me in this election, but that's how Donald thinks," Clinton said. "You know, he always is looking for some conspiracy."

Clinton further said that contrary to what Trump wants people to believe, he too supported the Iraq invasion. Just google “Donald Trump and Iraq,” Clinton said, whilst detailing her strategy to defeat ISIS. She added that just as America had brought Bin Laden to justice, Baghdadi would too be brought to justice, and retaking Mosul was the first step in that larger strategy.

On accepting the election results



The real clincher of the debate was Trump’s surprise suggestion that he may not accept the election results. "What I'm saying is that I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense. Ok?" Trump said in response to moderator Chris Wallace asking whether Trump would not commit to a peaceful transition of power.

"That is not the way our democracy works," Clinton said during the debate. "We've been around for 240 years. We've had free and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them. And that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election."