Donald Trump's Surrogates Are Contradicting Him

Perhaps the biggest and most important story out of the final presidential debate Wednesday night was Republican candidate Donald Trump's refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if the results don't go his way on Nov. 8. Despite the words from the candidate himself, Trump surrogates insist that he will accept the election results no matter what. "Donald Trump will accept the results of the election," his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN in the post-debate spin room, adding the caveat, "because he's going to win the election."

Trump's announcement comes just one day after his daughter Ivanka Trump stated at the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit that her father would "do the right thing” and accept the outcome of the election. “Well, look, my father is in this to win it and, you know, I’m not interested in talking about alternative outcomes and, of course, I think my father will always do the right thing,” she said. “That’s the type of person he is,” Ivanka said during the conversation with Time magazine editor Nancy Gibbs. Yet less than 24 hours later, Ivanka's father let her down by failing to promise this honorable course of action. Two of his most important surrogates, Conway and his daughter, have been completely off base about Trump's own stance, indicating some troubling miscommunication or lack thereof within the top levels of the campaign.

People are already seriously concerned about what this could mean for Nov. 8. Since a Trump supporter called for revolution at a rally last week if Hillary Clinton wins, there's been legitimate concern about the possibility of violence or unrest given the results of the election. Many journalists who covered the event also were extremely shocked and alarmed by Trump's announcement — CNN anchor Jake Tapper even called it "one of the most stunning things [he's] ever heard in a presidential debate, ever." This is a hugely unprecedented concept and could be disastrous for the future of American democracy if anything is actually to happen in reaction to the election, which seems to be clearly what Trump is hoping for.

Despite what is surrogates are saying, Trump's are the words that matter here, and they're threatening the heart of the American electoral system. Maybe Trump is just trying to talk a big game, like he has for the past 15 months, but talking the talk isn't ok if you might inspire others to walk the walk and literally attempt to overthrow the government. Trump is playing with very, very dangerous fire, and if his surrogates are wrong, this election could end with the entire country getting burned.