NEW YORK — (CNN) Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson said Wednesday that his party and the Green Party do not cancel each other out.
“We’re drawing pretty much equally from both sides,” he told CNN’s Don Lemon on “CNN Tonight.” “I see that going all the way to the election.”
On Wednesday, CNN hosted a town hall with Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate, Ajamu Baraka. Stein defended her third-party candidacy against the logic that a vote for her would be a waste and would ultimately help elect Donald Trump.
“The unique thing about the Green Party is that we are the one national party that is not corrupted by corporate money, by lobbyist money or by Super PACs,” Stein said. “We have the unique ability to actually stand up for what it is that the American people want, what everyday people want.”
Johnson told Lemon that he’s not frustrated with the election cycle. Johnson is polling in the high single digits, which is shy of the 15% needed to appear on the presidential debate stages this fall.
“I’m really optimistic that we will be in the debates,” Johnson said. “As crazy as this campaign season is, I might be the next president of the United States,” Johnson joked.
The Libertarian candidate boasted that he and his running mate former Governor of Massachusetts William Weld is the only third-party campaign that will be on the ballot in all 50 states.
“A wasted vote is voting for somebody that you don’t believe in,” Johnson said. “If you don’t vote your conscience, shame on you. I think maybe six weeks from now you’ll be talking about, is voting for Trump a wasted vote? Is voting for Clinton a wasted vote, given that Gary Johnson has risen so far, so fast.”
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