keep in suspense
注目のトランプ氏ＶＳクリントン氏についての記事です。
Donald Trump Won’t Say if He’ll Accept Result of Election
Every losing presidential candidate in modern times has accepted the will of the voters, even in extraordinarily close races, such as when John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Richard M. Nixon in 1960 and George W. Bush beat Al Gore in Florida to win the presidency in 2000.
Mr. Trump insisted, without offering evidence, that the general election has been rigged against him, and he twice refused to say that he would accept its result.
“I will look at it at the time,” Mr. Trump said. “I will keep you in suspense.”
“That’s horrifying,” Mrs. Clinton replied. “Let’s be clear about what he is saying and what that means. He is denigrating — he is talking down our democracy. And I am appalled that someone who is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that position.”
Mrs. Clinton then ticked off the number of times he had deemed a system rigged when he suffered a setback, noting he had even called the Emmy Awards fixed when his show, “The Apprentice,’’ was passed over.
“It’s funny, but it’s also really troubling,” she said. “That is not the way our democracy works.”
Mrs. Clinton also accused Mr. Trump of extreme coziness with Mr. Putin, criticizing him for failing to condemn Russian espionage against her campaign’s internal email.
（一部抜粋）
今回は先生が「また物議を醸すかも」と言われていた昨日のTV debateのときのトランプ氏の “I will keep you in suspense.”という発言に注目します。これは大統領選に負けた場合、どうするのかという質問に答えたものですが、どのような意味を含んでいるのでしょうか。
Oxford Dictionary of English (Second Edition Reserved, Oxford University Press)によると、 suspenseは “a state or feeling of exited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen”、 “chiefly 〈law〉the temporary cessation or suspension of something”と定義されておりました。
『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版，大修館）で調べたところ、suspenseのみで「不安，気がかり，あやふやな気持ち，未決定」などという意味が載っておりました。また “keep O in suspense”で「〈人〉の気をもませる，〈人〉をはらはらさせる」となるようです。ちなみに “hold O in suspense”とも使うようです。
今回のトランプ氏の発言は負けたときには潔い態度をとるという政治家の矜持にかかわるもので、さらには民主主義の根幹にかかわる「問題発言」と受け止められる可能性があるのです。さらに言うと、「たとえ負けても今後、在野からクリントン氏を脅かす」などの含意も読み取ることができます。
インターネットで調べてみると、先生の予想通り、早くもこの発言を皮肉ったような見出しを見つけました。
Donald Trump fails to keep election suspense alive
The minute Donald Trump refused to rule out calling this a rigged election, he ceded the final debate. In truth, he had already lost it. But his promise to keep America “in suspense” until November 9 was a doubly self-inflicted blow. Mr Trump’s threat was the electoral version of his sex tape pre-confessions.
（以下省略）
https://www.ft.com/content/18c31cb8-967b-11e6-a1dc-bdf38d484582
今後もトランプ氏から目が離せません。（Gomez）
敗北と勝利宣言 - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
concession speech - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
