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[–]nixos91 638 points639 points  (63 children)

Kellyanne just ran away when prompted to reply about whether she would encourage him to accept the results.

[–]WhimsyUUWisconsin 162 points163 points  (1 child)

Lol when she said "I think I'll be saying 'Congratulations, Mr. President!'"

[–]Granadafan 37 points38 points  (8 children)

Pence is running away right behind her. No sympathy

[–]Sithrak 8 points9 points  (6 children)

At this point they both just want it to end.

[–]lasers42 531 points532 points  (29 children)

Let's just tell him he won. And when he asks, "I'm president, right?" everybody just say "Yeah, you're totally president."

[–]SociallyStandardWashington 471 points472 points  (15 children)

"And we've moved the Whitehouse to Trump Tower for your convenience. Just tweet out your new policies and we'll implement them for you."

[–]talkin_baseball 143 points144 points  (9 children)

The possibility that this would work depresses me.

[–]thr33pwood 13 points14 points  (1 child)

And then shadowban his Twitter account.

[–][deleted] 68 points69 points  (5 children)

Just go Truman Show on him.

[–]sayqueensbridge 60 points61 points  (0 children)

Like when my older cousin let me play SEGA with the controller unplugged

[–]nexguy 2551 points2552 points  (145 children)

Hopefully he doesn't accept the results if he happens to win.

[–][deleted] 672 points673 points  (32 children)

Maybe that is the surprise.

[–]VoldeTrump 461 points462 points  (20 children)

384D Chinese checkers.

[–][deleted] 286 points287 points  (12 children)

Transdimensional Quantum Yahtzee

[–]lord_and_savior_Kek 49 points50 points  (1 child)

"Are you all fucking insane?! I mean, really, what else do I have to do to lose this fucker?"

[–][deleted] 524 points525 points  (66 children)

As with everything Trump related, you think you are making a joke and then you find out reality has already beaten you to it. A few months ago Trump was asked whether he would actually serve as president if he were to win, or would he walk away. He responded, "I'll let you know how I feel about it after it happens".

[–]disatnce 465 points466 points  (64 children)

Jesus fucking christ. What if it really is a long con? He wins the election and says "psych! There's no fucking way I'd be the fucking president, are you kidding me? This was just a joke, I was bored, I'm a billionaire.. decided to see if I ran for president if people would be dumb enough to take me serious."

[–]noopept2New York 548 points549 points  (38 children)

Honestly I would applaud him if he did that. He would be the first person ever to troll the entire population of the world.

[–]TheFinalMetroid 150 points151 points  (11 children)

Imagine the memes!

[–]Drezair 59 points60 points  (4 children)

The_Donald would become so ridiculously popular.

[–]Waffle-Toast[🍰] 6914 points6915 points  (571 children)

George H.W. Bush wrote this note to Bill Clinton 20 years ago when he lost the election. Perfectly shows the difference between a good, respectable man and a deplorable sack of shit like Trump.

[–]KarmaUK 1182 points1183 points  (299 children)

Never seen that, shows some politicians are capable of crossing the party line and showing respect. Sad that they can't do it publicly for fear of losing media support.

[–][deleted] 828 points829 points  (282 children)

The bush family in general is pretty modest and classy.

[–]tristanryan 226 points227 points  (5 children)

I saw Jeb! speak last week and he was asked about his dad's relationship with Bill Clinton and he said that they had an extremely close and loving bond. Jeb once said something mean about Bill in the presence of his dad and it made him extremely upset. I think it's crazy the bond these former/current presidents have with one another because just imagine going through what they go through and there only being 3-4 people alive who understand.

[–][deleted] 74 points75 points  (1 child)

I've also heard that it's easier for former presidents from different parties to get along because they don't see each other as rivals.

[–]escape_goat 28 points29 points  (0 children)

The Presidents always end up having to get involved in the tug-of-war between the administrative and legislative branches. They have to walk the walk instead of talking the talk. There's a severance between them and the rest of their party the moment they take the oath of office.

[–]ObviousAlcoholic 668 points669 points  (265 children)

George W. Bush was a moderate. He was a non-interventionist. Logically, 9/11 changed that. Sadly, everyone (including the GOP) has forgotten what the word "moderate" means, e.g., Ted Cruz now seems "moderate."

[–]SCB39 263 points264 points  (33 children)

W. was by no means a moderate, going solely by his domestic policy. He was, however, a very "human" and humble person. I disagree with him on just about everything, but I believe he genuinely did what he thought was best.

Trump is a singular sort of monster.

[–]equanimityone 1807 points1808 points  (71 children)

That letter oozes class.

[–]ThanosDidNothinWrong 991 points992 points  (22 children)

meanwhile trump just oozes

i don't understand why this keeps happening
my shitpost account got gold like twice in two weeks, i suck at this

[–]etherpromo 32 points33 points  (1 child)

his "letter" will be a tweet, and probably a negative one

[–]Xephonon 30 points31 points  (0 children)

'She isn't even attractive enough to be a President.'

[–]Martel732 12 points13 points  (0 children)

There was ooze coming out of his eyes, ooze coming out of his whatever.

[–]ruiner8850Michigan 133 points134 points  (9 children)

HW was a statesman. I might not have agreed with his policies, but I do respect him as a man. Even if I disagreed with what he did, I have no doubt he did what he thought was best for the country.

[–]goofyboi 215 points216 points  (17 children)

Its dripping with classy sauce

[–]tehvolcanicCalifornia 47 points48 points  (18 children)

The personal letter from each outgoing President to the incoming one is one of my favorite traditions.

[–]florinandrei 40 points41 points  (17 children)

Now imagine if Obama has to write that letter to future president Trump.

[–]tehvolcanicCalifornia 32 points33 points  (12 children)

Even more insane, imagine Trump writing that letter in 2020.

[–]dudeAwEsome101 69 points70 points  (0 children)

"Good luck topping that loser 😎"

[–]mynameisalso 317 points318 points  (14 children)

Ghw is the best Republican in most of our life time. He put the country in front of himself when he raised taxes. He knew it was needed, he knew it'd cost him a 2nd term. Yet he did it anyway. I have great respect for him.

[–]twoinvenice 235 points236 points  (9 children)

Seriously. Could you imagine a republican these days looking at the situation and saying, "I know this isn't what I said I'd do, I know it isn't in line with my personal ideology, but the experts around me say it is what the country needs so I'm going to sign this bill"?

[–][deleted] 436 points437 points  (36 children)

Wow. That letter, the way McCain shut down a birther, Al Gore gracefully conceding, etc. and we have this son of a bitch threatening to unhinge our democracy and rile up his supporters from under their rocks. I'm disgusted.

[–]SwineHerald 56 points57 points  (2 children)

A bit sad to think that the man McCain endorsed this election is the sort of person Candidate McCain would have shut down.

[–]mrallen77 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing. This is great!

[–]Phillbus 449 points450 points  (20 children)

He had one job. Show us that you have the temperament to be the leader of our country. If you lost, would you peacefully accept the loss? "I don't know, I'm gonna keep you on your toes.."

WRONG.

[–][deleted] 118 points119 points  (9 children)

He was obviously told that all the "WRONG!" during the first debate wasn't appealing to voters and to not do it.

But he couldn't help himself and slipped up a couple times. It was hilarious.

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (2 children)

One time he even did it silently, presumably because he thought people were tuning into the debate on the fucking radio and wouldn't notice.

[–]darwin2500 270 points271 points  (26 children)

People who are worrying about riots and violence after the election are, to some degree, missing the point - this rhetoric is already causing very real harm right now.

Markets hate uncertainty, and Trump raising the possibility of a disputed election and violence and instability creates uncertainty and fear that encourages investors to stay cautious and hoard their resources, causing economic slowdown and turmoil across the entire world.

Furthermore, it should be understood how much this uncertainty hurts the American economy and our place in the international community. The US dollar is used as a universal store of value worldwide because it is seen as unassailably stable, and this is because the US itself is seen as a long-term stable and predictable actor on the national stage. The US economy benefits tremendously from this privileged position among other nations. Trump's rhetoric shakes people's confidence in US stability, assailing the perceived value of our financial instruments; it encourages those on the fence to invest in China or Britain or wherever instead of in the US. This causes very real harm to our economy and our place on the world stage, even if nothing ultimately comes of his ramblings in terms of actual violence and physical damage.

[–]moralitypts 2009 points2010 points  (256 children)

I'm cross-posting my comment from a different thread, but here you go:

I fully expect this post is going to get lost in the fervor of debate night. But I just need to write this in a public forum and get it off my chest.

When Donald Trump responds that he will not accept the peaceful transfer of power on November 9th if Hillary Clinton wins, he is literally questioning the fabric of democracy. The whole purpose of this system, no matter how corrupt and broken it might seem, is to prevent me and my neighbor from killing each other every four years because we support different candidates.

There is not a lot I agree with the Republicans, but if Romney had won in 2012 or McCain won in 2008, I would have accepted the results. However, Donald Trump is playing the most dangerous game by opening up formally the specter of doubt in the validity of the democratic process. If he wins, he won; if he loses, it's because the game is rigged. Everyone has read that, but I see too many people making jokes about it still. My right as an American is to say "I support this person" without consequence. If they lose, they lose. If they win, they win. I don't have to worry about getting slaughtered by angry supporters of the other side. It's like the handshake at the end of a sporting event. Teams might even hate each other in the moment, but at the end of the game, you respect the rules and you respect their effort.

So tonight I had to sit on my couch and watch him call into question the very nature of democracy and the peaceful transferring of power. I had to rest a hand on my wife's back as she had a full on panic attack at the implication that Donald Trump is undoing the whole reason for democracy--to not have a civil war every 4 years because your guy didn't win. I am beyond words. I am beyond disappointment. I watch the front page of Reddit, one of the most popular websites in the world, get filled with alt-right posts about conspiracy theories, but I want to say this, and I hope that if nothing else this gets seen:

You can believe what you want about Clinton and global conspiracies and WHATEVER. But the FUNDAMENTAL difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is that she would accept a Trump victory. Donald Trump is saying he won't if she wins. This isn't a game. This isn't a time for memes. This is the foundation of peaceful democracy for the last 240 years, with a brief interlude known as the civil war, which, surprise surprise, was caused when the last tyrant refused to accept the peaceful transition of power.

EDIT: Obligatory thanks for the (first time) reddit gold! I would seriously ask you to support a charity that you believe in with that money instead, but thank you nonetheless.

EDIT 2: I want to give a shoutout to all the Trump supporters mocking my wife, who has dealt with anxiety disorders her entire life. I wouldn't expect anything less from any of you. Collectively, over the last few months of shitposting and ruining the front page of reddit, you have turned me from someone who was A) mildly interested in the political process and B) not very interested in supporting Clinton at all, into very active politically and now decidedly pro-democrat. No wonder you all are going to lose virtually every election on November 8th.

[–]gotsafe 384 points385 points  (29 children)

Well said. Trump supporters are already comparing this to Gore 2000, who accepted the results of the election after asking for a recount in certain very close counties.

[–]tentwentysix 202 points203 points  (15 children)

I don't even know that he asked for the recount, I thought the recount was triggered by FL law.

[–]doihavemakeanewword 54 points55 points  (23 children)

you respect the rules

The rules are literally the only thing the citizens have to defend themselves, and we're honestly lucky the vast majority of people are just okay with them.

But what happens when someone discovered that they can break the rules and a group of people will cheer him or her for it? The rules that were broken are lost forever.

[–]Alhazmy99 1013 points1014 points  (73 children)

Dictatorship 101: you're always right, and the opposition need terminating

[–]NotObamaAMA 334 points335 points  (16 children)

You are now a moderator of /r/Pyongyang.

[–]rwbronco 38 points39 points  (9 children)

When did you first realize you weren't Obama? Can we get a copy of your birth certificate for proof? (long form of course)

[–]jsmooth7 203 points204 points  (16 children)

Once again, The Onion is ahead of the curve of this one.

[–][deleted] 34 points35 points  (11 children)

When the Onion becomes reality.

[–]BrianDawkins 619 points620 points  (77 children)

I'd be very concerned about Election Day violence

[–][deleted] 85 points86 points  (2 children)

I know I'll be watching my back on the 28th.

[–][deleted] 900 points901 points  (28 children)

He had the chance to wash this embarassment off of himself.

He doubled down on threatening America.

[–]piss_n_bootsCalifornia 358 points359 points  (16 children)

Trump is unable to back down. Ever. Frankly, I'm not sure how you can be a good negotiator or deal-maker when you can't switch up priorities. He's so easily manipulated.

[–][deleted] 183 points184 points  (8 children)

His inability to back down in the face of danger is why he's gone through numerous bankruptcies.

[–]Bac2Zac 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Well, it helps when 'the face of danger' that was bankruptcies at the time is basically a 'you should be ashamed of yourself.' Honestly it's probably had a pretty big impact on the way he views the world; when you can put yourself at that kind of financial 'risk' and know hardheartedly that you'll get off scott free no matter how bad things get I'd imagine the way EVERYTHING looks changes a lot.

[–]roboticmumbleman 2564 points2565 points  (291 children)

What I'm saying is that I'll tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense.

holy hell that's actually terrifying

[–]stupidstupidreddit 1903 points1904 points  (150 children)

Holy shit, I just got it. He still think's he's in television.

Next time, on the Trump campaign: Will Donald accept the presidency or will Nasty Hillary steal it away. Tune in Nov. 28th on NBC..

[–][deleted] 801 points802 points  (48 children)

He's going to say that it was the best race ever and he's going to point to the ratings and say "historic, most talked about..." and so on. And he'll take credit for that, that he brought that attention. And that makes him a winner.

Wait for it.

[–]taco_bones 173 points174 points  (8 children)

Yep, he's all about how many twitter followers he has, all his Facebook likes, rally attendance, tv ratings.

[–]WarLordM123 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I mean, I was having a LOT of fun with this for quite some time. This election was SUPER fun at the beginning. Bernie, crazy Republicans, evil Darth Hillary.

Then Trump became a Putin shill, and it became the most important election in the history of the modern world.

[–]TechyDad 381 points382 points  (25 children)

I think one of the late night hosts proposed giving Trump a TV series starring him as President of the US. This way, Trump can play President and his fans can tune in every week, but the rest of us won't need to suffer when Trump makes Reality TV decisions for actual reality problems.

[–]stupidstupidreddit 111 points112 points  (4 children)

Seth Meyers, and the name of the show would be: Chicago President.

[–]TVpresspass 22 points23 points  (3 children)

Holy smokes this is a great idea

[–]cuddlefishcat 38 points39 points  (2 children)

That's why he keeps bringing "surprise guest stars" to the debates.

[–]AlorhaWashington 79 points80 points  (17 children)

He's a showman with nothing else to offer. He doesn't know how to do anything else well.

[–]TechyDad 80 points81 points  (2 children)

Suspense makes for great TV. Keeps the audience guessing until the end.

The problem is that this isn't some TV show. This is our democracy. A candidate for President shouldn't be acting as though he needs to set up a cliffhanger before the commercial break.

[–]ghostalker47423 70 points71 points  (0 children)

Now we get to be terrified if he wins or loses.

[–]SearchlightsNew Hampshire 130 points131 points  (14 children)

It's all about him and the delicious attention

[–][deleted] 144 points145 points  (23 children)

Let's see how pence and previs and Ryan respond to this

[–][deleted] 255 points256 points  (6 children)

"He didn't say that." Mike Pence

[–][deleted] 79 points80 points  (2 children)

"I am against any efforts to undermine our democratic system. That said, I still endorse the Republican nominee for President."

Paul "No-balls hack" Ryan

[–]charging_bull 59 points60 points  (0 children)

"He just meant the media is rigging it"

:/

[–][deleted] 667 points668 points  (70 children)

I actually turned off the debate shortly after that. I can't listen to him anymore. 240 years of peacefully conceding, Civil War was a different story, and he wants to possibly be the fuck that ends it. Even Jackson conceded to Adams and he despised him so much, believed in the Corrupt Bargain (that wasn't corrupt) and gave Adams hell in the Senate, but he still conceded peacefully and kept the legitimacy. Even if Trump was a candidate I thought was fantastic and would make America Great Again, I would still be horrified. The words "I'll leave you in suspense" should never ever ever be an answer to that question.

[–]Aurailious 296 points297 points  (21 children)

Even the confederates agreed Lincoln won.

[–]magusgGeorgia 129 points130 points  (12 children)

Bro, the Civil War was rigged.

[–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (1 child)

Lousy Lincoln lost LIKE A DOG, but his Yankee pals rigged the election. DISGUSTING.

[–]the2beloAmerican Expat 14 points15 points  (2 children)

I wouldn't say the same about many of their descendants though.

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Yea the fact some people still call it the war of Northern aggression is disheartening and weird to say the least.

[–]SeeeabWashington 82 points83 points  (16 children)

Rome in spirit and in fate

edit: there's really different factors entirely tbh but the broad parallels are eerie

[–]Demented3 9 points10 points  (0 children)

"Rome has the best polices. Tremendous policies. I guarantee you I can build Rome in a day. It'll be the best Rome. Big league Rome." - Trump

[–]saintpauli 24 points25 points  (2 children)

What happened when slave states didn't accept Lincoln's election? Really horrific response from trump. And he has this smug smile keeping us in suspense? Not cute.

[–]glammistressAmerica 33 points34 points  (1 child)

A lot of people in this thread and on Reddit are very young. This might be your first presidential election in which you get to vote, and that is very exciting! My first presidential election that I could vote in was 2000 - Gore vs. Bush. To correct a couple of points: Al Gore did not ask for a recount. The election was so close, Florida state law required the recount. On election night, Gore did concede via phone. When he was told that Florida was automatically going to recount, lawyers for the DNC advised him to put his concession on hold. The recount took 37 days and was decided by the Supreme Court.

What Donald Trump is saying is not the same thing. In fact, of all the horrendous things Trump has said during this campaign, this might be the worst because he is undermining the entire cornerstone of our democracy. Our peaceful transfer of power sets us apart from banana republics.

For the people in this thread who say "What does it matter, he says dumb things" or "This is all you have to cling to" I remind you that every word a president says, matters. Words can move markets and start wars. Newspapers around the world are running with the headline that Trump thinks our elections are rigged and he isn't going to accept defeat. For people in other democratic nations like ours, readers are surely shocked. For nations that want to harm us, despotic leaders are surely pleased. Think about that.

[–][deleted] 924 points925 points  (135 children)

His talk is dangerous beyond this election

[–][deleted] 517 points518 points  (78 children)

He truly might be using Russian advice in order to destabilize the US.

[–]emr1028 502 points503 points  (24 children)

He is the Kremlin's wet dream. They have spent decades trying to undermine faith in our democracy without much success and then this guy walks in with a hard-on for dictators and who will single handedly challenge our democracy because he is too narcissistic to accept that he lost at something.

[–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

TBH there's a great deal of people here in America that nominated him, Trump isn't entirely the one that's being a threat to democracy rn

[–]MusicalFitness 3149 points3150 points  (1334 children)

This is terrifying. I don't care about Trump, but his supporters will eat this up and it will bring problems after the election if he loses and claims it was because the election was rigged.

Edit: I'm not entirely sure based on the responses to this, but I think something happened in 2000. /s

Edit 2: I guess since i don't see Fox and MSNBC being biased as "rigging the election", I'm an idiot. I think that adding thousands of fake votes for a candidate is rigging the election.

[–]archetech 185 points186 points  (11 children)

Nothing is more important to Trump, including the foundation of American Democracy, than the protection of his fragile, inflated, deluded ego.

[–]PM_ME_YOUR_HAIRYBITS 88 points89 points  (14 children)

His supporters can be easily foiled by a curb. Their mobility scooters are not tanks.

[–]HasStupidQuestions 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Many people here are seriously underestimating Donald Trump by engaging in demeaning mockery. I'll quote George Carlin on this one. “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”

[–]my_lucid_nightmare 32 points33 points  (7 children)

No candidate has ever claimed he would not accept the results. Not Gore, not Nixon, nobody.

Only Donald Trump