Donald Trump Will Not Debate Hillary, if Gary Johnson not Allowed to Participate
In what is no doubt a brilliant tactical step, the Donald goes for broke and holds out for the participation of Johnson
Donald Trump will pull out all the stops so that third-party candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson can participate in the national debate on September 26.
The Donald Trump for President 2016 campaign will pull out of the scheduled September 26th debate between Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Trump, unless third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are also allowed to participate.
This is a tactical move believed by most analysts to help Trump, because the third-party candidates seem to drain more support from Clinton then they do from Trump.
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced its 15 percent threshold last year, and last month it announced the set of five national polls it would use to measure each candidate's support. The barrier is no problem for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, but it presents a potentially insurmountable hurdle for third party presidential candidates like Libertarian Gary Johnson and the Green Party's Jill Stein.
The requirement that presidential candidates average at least 15 percent support in national polls in order to participate in the US Presidential Election debate stage is "probably too high," Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday morning.
The move is not entirely unexpected. This from Politico.com on 9/01/16: Still more complications are piling up: Clinton friends say she is leaving open the possibility that Trump agrees to only one debate, increasing the urgency of appealing to as many constituencies as possible in 90 minutes. They also expect him to threaten to pull out of the debate in the weeks leading up to it as a way to heighten the drama, and to agitate for the inclusion of Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson - a fate the Clinton camp is desperate to avoid.
The Washington Post says that Trump already laid the groundwork for declining the debates. He recently tweeted that the dates are all wrong and suggested that Clinton's campaign somehow rigged the dates - just like Sanders's campaign argued in the Democratic primary - to make sure nobody watches.
Why? Because he is not very good at debating in general says the WaPo, and is easily baited, especially by women. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/09/why-donald-trump-might-not-debate-hillary-clinton/
It is worth noting that Trump skipped one of the Republican Primary debates, purportedly because he was busy attending a veterans event. It's also ironic, because the lead holder in an election is generally the one who withholds participation in debates. Trump has polled behind Mrs. Clinton the entire year, but it is Clinton that is anxious to debate Trump-- not the other way around.
Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein polls around 3% nationally, but that's probably 3% Hillary Clinton would otherwise take.
"Keep in mind that it was only a few weeks ago that Trump raised the prospect of skipping these showdowns, and vowed to raise a series of "demands." The bluster apparently didn't amount to much: the schedule is unchanged from the previously announced dates." This from Rachel Maddow on virulently anti-Trump network MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/2016-debate-schedule-comes-focus-clinton-trump
"This is very consistent with statements made by Trump in 2000 when at a press conference with Jesse Ventura," says Kevin Zeese, a Senior advisor to the Jill Stein-Ajamu Baraka Campaign. "Trump said it was 'disgraceful and amazing' that the 'commission' on presidential debates 'could get away' with keeping candidates out of the debates. He went on to threaten to sue if Pat Buchanan's suit against the commission failed. Here's a link to the video: Donald Trump Says to Include Third Party Candidates in Debates, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07-CcLofEEQ It is also consistent with Ronald Reagan in 1980 when he wanted to include John Anderson and Carter refused. Reagan debated Anderson without Carter and spent two hours criticizing Carter without him present."
Reader Comments(16)
KevinZeese writes:
This is very consistent with statements made by Trump in 2000 when at a press conference with Jesse Venura, Trump said it was 'disgraceful and amazing' that the 'commission' on presidential debates 'could get away' with keeping candidates out of the debates. He went on to threaten to sue if Pat Buchanan's suit against the commission failed. Here's a link to the video: Donald Trump Says to Include Third Party Candidates in Debates, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07-CcLofEEQ It is also consisten with Ronald Reagan in 1980 when he wanted to include John Anderson and Carter refused. Reagan debated Anderson without Carter and spent two hours criticizing Carter without him present.
09/05/2016, 8:06 am
ArcadiusSpectre writes:
Fake story is fake. No source. Writer is hoping that Reince or Conway or someone in Trumps camp finds it in their daily news skimming regarding Trump, passes this story along to him, to provide him this idea.
09/05/2016, 7:56 am
Realistic writes:
Someone please escort this joker outta here, now he wants to change the process of election, go back to reality T.V.
09/05/2016, 7:22 am
What writes:
There is not a SINGLE news organization reporting that Trump will not debate without Johnson. The Trump Campaign also denies it. Where do you get this information? It is false on it's face. NO ONE is reporting the same!
09/05/2016, 6:25 am
James writes:
If this news is true, it does show that the Trump campaign is saavy. I'm not voting for Trump, but Johnson and Stein will pull more votes away from Hillary than Trump. Trump is an intersting negotiator. The debates will not bring as much viewership without Trump. The networks want to sell TV ads so Trump's strategy makes sense.
09/05/2016, 4:32 am
BenK writes:
Where did you get this information, it isn't being reported anywhere else; he had previously said no to allowing Gary Johnson into the debates.
09/05/2016, 3:43 am
Bhaden writes:
It's just so hard to take an article seriously when it is so grammatically flawed. I mean, capitalization? C'mon. This is a site that I'm meant to take as a reputable source? That being said, I like the idea of third party candidates getting some air time and providing an alternative perspective.
09/05/2016, 2:26 am
Rusty writes:
Great scoop! Who was the spokesperson? When & where, specifically, was this statement issued?
09/05/2016, 12:03 am
Brooklynite writes:
Simple solution. You want to include two more candidates, Donald? Fine. Twice the candidates, so we should double the length of the debate to give everyone a fair amount of time to speak. What do you say? I didn't think so.
09/04/2016, 10:50 pm
whatever writes:
What a joke! As it all draws closer Trump will make any excuse in the book regarding drawing attention away from his ignorance when it comes to these debates. He knows he'll be exposed for the idiot he truly is. Of course, all the FOX robots will make excuses when Hillary hands him his rest end like they always do. Hell, he couldn't even face Megan Kelley back in the beginning so he used the excuse that he was hosting a fundraiser for veterans. Give me a break- he couldn't care less about the vets. With the funds he raised avoiding her like the weasel he is, he could have just write a check to the veterans. When the hell are people going to see him for the fake, phoney , self aborbed, sociopathic bully that he is? Yeah, hes rich- and he has the i.q of a frog fart
09/04/2016, 10:43 pm
porky writes:
I'm guessing your source is the same one you had for the DEA to reschedule marijuana story? i.e. you pulled it out of uranus.
09/04/2016, 10:36 pm
Nick writes:
Source pls.
09/04/2016, 8:18 pm
WilliamWAUGH writes:
It is HRC who wants to weasel out of a debate with Stein and Johnson. Otherwise, she would join Trump in refusing to debate without all the candidates.
09/04/2016, 6:45 pm
Trmpsdsgstng writes:
Trump just wants to put rope around a ring he knows Clinton would repeatedly knock him out of. Having more people in the debate would create a kind of fog for him to occasionally slip out of and make some kind of insinuating comment or insult when it's not his turn to speak, that couldn't be responded to completely at that time, and then slink away. He would much rather be in a street corner fight situation where he can sneak up and throw a punch into someone who is distracted than have to sustain direct one to one intellectual combat.
09/04/2016, 5:30 pm
Danram writes:
LMAO!!! A brilliant tacticsl step, huh? What garbage! Donald Trump will not debate Hillary Clinton for the simple reason that he and his people know full well that she will expose him for the total ignoramus that he is and sink his candidacy for good. So he is using the exclusion of Gary Johnson as an excuse to skip the debates, knowing full well that the debate commission will not allow Johnson to participate if he's polling at less than 15%, which he is. This is Donald Trump's way of chickening out, plain and simple.
09/04/2016, 5:29 pm
Autelius writes:
Of course he will try to weasel out. He doesn't possess the intellectual firepower to compete in a debate with HRC and can only resort to name calling.
09/04/2016, 4:41 pm