The third-party candidates could qualify for either of the final two debates in October if their polling average clears 15 percent then.
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She noted the Democratic National Committee “sabotagued” the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, and notes many Sanders supporters are now supporting the Green Party. As the commission noted Friday, Johnson averaged 8.4 percent in those polls, with Stein averaging 3.2 percent. Almost two-thirds of Americans hold unfavorable views of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Johnson released a statement following the news that expressed his disappointment and vowed to be on the stage at the next debate in October.
Should Johnson’s and Stein’s numbers not rise to 15 percent nationally after that debate, they don’t make the second round.
Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party hopeful Jill Stein have failed to quality for the first planned United States presidential debate on September 26, the Commission on Presidential Debates says.
Shortly after the CPD announced its decision, independent candidate Evan McMullin issued Stein and Johnson an invitation to a take part in their own debate.
In a statement, Johnson blasted the commission as a “private organization created 30 years ago by the Republican and Democratic parties for the clear objective of taking control of the only nationally-televised presidential debates voters will see”.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will face off on Monday, Sept. 26 during the debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, USA Today reported. Accordingly, Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, and Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, qualify to participate in the September 26 presidential debate and the October 4 vice-presidential debate, respectively.
Before the announcement, Team Clinton was in panic mode over third parties siphoning votes from its candidate.
Johnson has said it will be “game over” for his campaign if he does not make the presidential debates, two more of which follow the opener at Hofstra.
Mr Johnson made unwelcome headlines last week when he appeared not to have heard of Aleppo, the war-torn Syrian city, when asked about the country’s refugee crisis during a television interview.
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In 1992, Perot got 18 percent of the popular vote, although he didn’t get any votes in the electoral college.
