NASHVILLE - Tennessee's top three Republicans - Gov. Bill Haslam and U.S. Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander - say GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump should state in no uncertain terms that he will accept the outcome of the Nov. 8 election.
Their comments came after Trump, who has charged that his contest with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is "rigged" against him, departed Wednesday from the American tradition of promoting a peaceful transfer of power during the final presidential debate by refusing to say outright he would concede a loss.
"I will look at it at the time," Trump said in response to Fox News moderator Chris Wallace's question. "I will keep you in suspense."
That didn't sit well with Corker, a Chattanoogan who has strongly backed Trump.
"It is imperative that Donald Trump clearly state that he will accept the results of the election when complete," Corker tweeted late Wednesday night. Corker had been under consideration for Trump's vice president pick until removing himself from consideration.
Trump's remarks also drew renewed criticism from Haslam, who has refused to endorse the GOP nominee. Just last week, Haslam called on Trump to step aside in favor of running mate Mike Pence after the emergence of a 2005 video, in which Trump vulgarly boasted about making unwanted advances on women.
"Our democracy in this republic that's stood for [240 years] is predicated on a peaceful transfer of power," Haslam told state Capitol reporters Thursday. "And I think one of the basics of that is the acceptance of election results."
Haslam said it's one thing when there is a situation such as the 2000 presidential election, when Tennessee Democrat Al Gore sought a recount of several counties in the razor-thin Florida vote, where it was "too close to call."
"It had to be played out," Haslam said of that election. "But we had a process for playing that out. Again, the whole system is based on a peaceful transfer of power, and part of that, you know, includes accepting election results."
The governor said he has "incredible confidence" in Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett's ability to oversee a fair election here in Tennessee.
On the stump later Thursday, Trump pledged to accept the results of the election "if I win," but went on to compare his potential situation to Gore's in the 2000 election. Gore never raised questions about the legitimacy of the election process.
In a statement, Alexander said, "The most conspicuous and enduring symbol of the American democracy is the freedom to vote for our leaders and the restraint to respect the results. When you run for public office, you accept the verdict of the voters."
But U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., an early supporter of Trump, called it "comical that Hillary Clinton and her allies are making an issue of this matter since they just campaigned together with Al Gore in Miami last week and questioned the results of the 2000 election 16 years after the fact.
"Fortunately," DesJarlais added in his statement, "in Tennessee we have fairness and integrity in our electoral process, but there are other parts of the country where that is not the case. In any election, I think it is fair to evaluate the totals after they are announced before making a decision on the results."
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., said in a statement: "I believe in the sanctity of the election process.
"Every person who is legally eligible to vote, should be able to vote," the Chattanooga congressman said. "So long as those votes have been legitimately cast and counted, a candidate should respect the results."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hargett this week voiced concerns as Trump continued to assert the election was "rigged."
He cited President Barack Obama's concerns regarding cybersecurity on the voting process and the administration's suggestion that federal steps were needed.
"I think both sides have done a disservice in talking about what they think might be issues," Hargett said "President Obama came out and talked about his concern about cybersecurity and he talked about making the critical infrastructure part of Homeland Security. Is that the next step to federalizing elections? You know, I think that's something that bothers every secretary of state, regardless of what party they're in."
He said he gets "concerned any time anybody talks about their concern that the election is rigged somehow. I think election officials around the country work very hard to make sure we protect the integrity of the election."
He added, "Anything that discourages people and causes a discredit to the end results doesn't do anyone any favors."
The Obama administration began discussing additional security protections after it was discovered that voting systems in Arizona and Illinois had been hacked. Hargett has noted Tennessee's system is based on 95 county election commissions and is not conducted online.
Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.