For Immediate Release Monday, September 5, 2016
Libertarian Party Demands Fox New Cease and Desist
Alexandria The Libertarian Party releases this statement from Libertarian National Committee Political Director, Carla Howell:
‘It has come to our attention that Fox News is running misleading ads for the first presidential debate scheduled for September 26, which show just two participants: Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. The Commission on Presidential Debates has not yet announced whether it will include Libertarian Gov. Gary Johnson in debates.
‘Co-chair for the Commission on Presidential Debates Mike McCurry told POLITICO in August : ‘We won’t know the number of invitations we extend until mid-September.’
‘The CPD has said that to qualify, candidates must poll at 15% in five polls selected by the commission, but has indicated they may include Gov. Johnson if he comes close. Johnson has hovered around 10% in polls.
“Governors Johnson and Weld are polling higher than any Libertarian Party presidential ticket in history, more than covering the spread between the old party candidates and they have racked up endorsements from scores of prominent politicians and luminaries in various fields. Editorial boards of major newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and Richmond Times-Dispatch have publicly called for Johnson to be included in the debates. The Times-Dispatch, Tim Kaine’s hometown newspaper, gave their official endorsement to Johnson. This is remarkable, especially considering the light media coverage Johnson has received compared with the saturation coverage that the media has showered on the Republican and Democrat.
‘An August Quinnipiac University poll shows 62 percent of likely voters nationally say Gov. Johnson should be included in the debates this year. Pretending Gary Johnson is excluded when no decision has been made misleads viewers and does a grave disservice to voters who are hungry for an alternative.
“The Libertarian Party requests that Fox News immediately pull all misleading ads, and refrain from making any public statements, which give the impression that only two candidates will be in the debates. We hope for similarly fair and truthful representations of the debates from all media outlets covering the election and urge them to step up their coverage of our two very qualified candidates so every voter can make an informed choice.”
The Libertarian Party is on track to be on the ballot in all fifty states and DC.
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