By Carly Taylor
For The Diamondback
About 200 students gathered in Hoff Theater and watched as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump refused to say if he would accept the election results.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Trump’s answer during the third presidential debate was “talking down our democracy.” It shocked pundits, who said it was the first time a major-party candidate has said that.
It also shocked students who attended the debate watch party Wednesday night.
“I don’t think he is a good candidate for president if he won’t accept the results,” said senior hearing and speech sciences major Stephanie Ross. “He should be proud of where he is now and be accepting of who becomes president.”
The event was hosted by the University of Maryland’s chapter of College Republicans in conjunction with this university’s chapter of College Democrats, the Society of Professional Journalists and several other groups on the campus, giving students the opportunity to come together to watch the last debate of the season on the big screen.
Students cheered and laughed at comments made by both candidates, especially in reaction to controversial issues such as immigration.
Freshman Ryan Lessel said he supported Trump, despite his plan to build a wall and his promise to throw “bad hombres” out of the country.
Lessel, who is enrolled in letters and sciences, said he hates Trump, but he voted for the Republican nominee Tuesday out of loyalty to the party.
Clinton also weighed in about immigration, and talked about her plans to secure borders and thoroughly vet immigrants — a discussion that College Republicans President Jacob Veitch felt has been lacking in previous debates.
“I hope to see more policy discussion,” said the junior government and politics and international business major. “We haven’t seen much of that.”
Debate moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump to address news reports in which women claimed he demeaned and sexually assaulted them. Trump denied his involvement with any of the women, suggesting Clinton encouraged the accusers to lie. During the debate, Trump referred to Clinton as a “nasty woman.”
“Trump will try to do anything to cover his tracks,” said sophomore aerospace engineering major Jack Blaes. “He has failed to apologize but he is not the kind of candidate who would apologize.”
Trump blamed Clinton for a number of other issues during the debate including the current state of Aleppo and ISIS terrorist activity.
Clinton briefly discussed her plan to make college debt-free, a plan she worked on with Bernie Sanders.
Sophomore Jeremy Tuthill, who supported Sanders in the primaries, said Clinton’s emergence as the Democratic nominee made him rethink what the best approach is for college education reform.
“It would be too extreme, given our country’s current culture, to make college free for everyone,” the computer science major said. “Hillary’s plan is closer to the center and better for the country.”
While many students are set on which candidate they will cast a vote for next month, others were still left undecided after the debate.
Freshman Jinwook Hwang said this debate brought him “closer to a decision,” but is not ready to commit to a candidate.
“I am looking for a candidate whose actions will speak louder than their words,” said Hwang, who is enrolled in letters and sciences.
Voter registration in Maryland ended Tuesday, but MaryPIRG, a co-sponsor of the event, sent representatives to the debate watch party to inform students about community centers across the state where citizens can vote early.
