PRESIDENTIAL RACE | GOP braces for headache as Trump says may not accept results

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump launched into the campaign's closing stretch with a shot across the bow to American democratic tradition: He may reject the election's results if he loses.

As Democrats pounced, Republicans braced for a fresh political headache with less than three weeks left until Election Day.

Trump's alarming rejoinder about accepting the results – "I will tell you at the time" – sent shockwaves through the presidential campaign, with Trump's supporters struggling to explain his remarks and fellow Republicans seeking even more distance from their nominee.

The distraction deprived Trump of the comeback moment he sorely needed, despite an otherwise mostly measured and poised performance in Wednesday's third and final debate.

"I will keep you in suspense," Trump said ominously when asked whether he was committed to upholding America's centuries-old tradition of the election's loser conceding. He repeated unfounded allegations of impending, widespread voter fraud.

The Republican National Committee, whose chief mission is to get the GOP nominee elected, was put in the remarkable position of disputing its own candidate, with a spokesman saying the party would "respect the will of the people."

Even some of Trump's most ardent supporters felt it was a step over the line. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said it was "imperative that Donald Trump clearly state" he'll accept the results.

Trump running mate Mike Pence and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, both of whom had previously insisted Trump would accept the election's results, were left trying to explain that Trump would contest the results only under extraordinary circumstances – assurances that seemed at odds with Trump's own words.

"He just wants a fair shot," Conway said on ABC's "Good Morning America." ''If you're Donald Trump, you don't get a fair shot these days."