Ethics & Religion
Column #1,834
October 19, 2016
Trump Lost the Debate
By Mike McManus

Moderator Chris Wallace addressed Donald Trump: “You have been saying at rallies that that `This election is rigged.’ And that `Hillary is in the process of stealing it.’ Your Vice Presidential nominee, Mike Pence, says he `will absolutely accept the outcome.’ Will you accept the results?”

Trump replied, “I will look at them at that time, and decide. The media has been so bad. It has piled on, and has poisoned minds. I believe voters will see through it. If you look at the voter rolls, millions are registered to vote, who should not be registered to vote.”

Wallace interjected, “One of the prides of this country, no matter how hard fought, the loser concedes to the winner.”

Trump responded, “I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense.”

CNN observers were horrified. Jake Tapper asserted, “The fact he might not accept the results of the election was staggering, and did not help him show that he has the temperament to be President.” They predicted this would hurt his poll results.

That seemed proven by an instant national poll conducted by CNN which showed that by a 52-39 margin, observers felt Hillary won the debate.

On another issue, Trump denied that he had molested women. However, a tape recording was released two weeks ago in which Trump, then aged 59, was heard to say, “Grab them by the p..ssy…You can do anything,” if you are a media star.

Since the recording was made public, he denied the charge. However nine women have come forward to affirm that they had been sexually molested or been forced to kiss him.

In the debate, Trump dismissed their charges, saying they were “seeking ten minutes of fame.” However, several of them told friends at the time of his aggression.

Yet some evangelicals continue to support him. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and head of Samaritan’s Purse which supports Christians in Africa, asserted that Trump “had apologized to his wife and to the American people. He has taken full responsibility.”

Not true. He apologized “if anyone was offended,” but did not express contrition for sexually assaulting women and bragging about it.

Other evangelicals, such as Albert Mohler, a seminary president, oppose him: “How could `family values voters’ support a man who had stated openly that no man’s wife was safe with him in the room? A casino titan who posed for the cover of Playboy? A man who boasted that he did not repent of his (well-documented) sins?”

Russell Moore, president of Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, noted that Trump bragged to shock-jock Howard Stern “about walking through the dressing rooms of his beauty pageants while contestants were getting dressed,” which he could do because he “owned the place.”

Yet the “old-guard Religious Right establishment” says Trump “is not a Sunday School teacher,” but “a new King David.” They tell us he will appoint judges and justices “who stand up for unborn human life and religious liberty,” said Moore. “After all, he told us he would.”

Denny Burk, a professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, asserts, “I am not joking when I say he is a Mussolini in waiting. He must never be allowed near the Oval Office.”

Trump has said that if he wins, he will put Hillary Clinton in jail. In doing so, he is “rejecting a pillar of our republic,” editorialized The Washington Post. It noted Trump’s “blanket indifference to truth,” such as his claim that thousands of New Jersey Muslims celebrated the Sept. 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center. None did so.

As polls report that Trump is losing to Clinton, he is now claiming his loss could only happen as a result of a “rigged election.” His proof? There is none. A recent study of a billion ballots cast in America from 2000 through 2014 found only 31 instances of impersonation fraud at the polls.

American elections are held with representatives of both parties present when a person votes. When asked for proof of who they are, most show a driver’s license photo.

If Trump loses, as appears likely, Trump supporters may not accept the result. Columnist Dana Milbank reported spending hours with Trump supporters before a recent rally. “I did not find one who expects Trump to lose. To `varying degrees’ most agreed with Trump that the election process is rigged, and some predicted that if he loses there will be a “mass rejection of the legitimacy of the democratic process.”

Trump does not deserve the support of American voters.

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Copyright (c) 2016 Michel J. McManus, a syndicated columnist and past president of Marriage Savers. For previous columns go to www.ethicsandreligion.org. Hit Search for any topic.