Legal experts and politicians, both liberals and conservatives, have been sounding the alarm about Donald Trump’s refusal to say he’d accept the election outcome. As the Republican nominee has slid in the polls, Trump has doubled down on his claims that the election process is “rigged,” without offering any substantial evidence.
HBO’s John Oliver found humor in this, taunting Trump with a bet: If Trump loses, the Last Week Tonight host would give Trump — “a born showman”– an Emmy Award.
The offer came after last week’s third presidential debate, when Fox News’ Chris Wallace pressed Trump on his unprecedented refusal to say he’d accept the Nov. 8 election results. Trump told Wallace, “I’ll keep you in suspense.”
“What do you mean you’ll keep us in suspense?!” Oliver cried in indignation. “This is a presidential election, not an American Idol results show.” Oliver then played a video clip from a Trump rally following the debate in which the presidential candidate said he would “totally accept” the election results before adding, with a grin, “. . . if I win.”
Reacting to that clip, Oliver cried: “You got us! That’s so funny, because we thought you were going to say the rational thing, which would’ve put the country at east. But, instead, you pulled the old switcheroo and you continued to destabilize the foundations of our democracy.”
The comedian went on to note that research shows documented voter fraud is extraordinarily rare and highlights the inexplicability of Trump’s refusal to accept the election results.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVxkCh5ds18
Later, Oliver again picked up the thread of Trump’s complaints about the integrity of the election process by noting that the GOP nominee also once complained that TV’s Emmy Awards were rigged after they did not give an award to his show, NBC’s The Apprentice. “Of course he wants an Emmy,” Oliver joked. “It’s a woman, it’s gold, and it’s proportionate to his tiny hands. It’s basically Trump’s ideal mate.”
Oliver continued: “Here’s the problem. It increasingly seems like, if Donald Trump loses, we are not going to get the concession speech that the country badly needs, because he is medically incapable of accepting that he is a loser. So we need to find a way for him to give a concession speech, while he’s still able to claim that he won something.”
The British comedian’s proposed solution? Oliver decided to propose a bet with Trump in which, should the real estate mogul and former reality TV host lose the election in November, Oliver offered up one of his own Emmy statues as consolation. “I have something you want,” Oliver said, holding up an Emmy statue.
Oliver then urged him to “take the f—— bet” and accept the voting results. “That way, if you lose, you still win,” Oliver said.