Trump should refuse to debate without Johnson and Stein

Is it always in the interest of the two major-party candidates to exclude third-party candidates?

Libertarian Party nominee Gov. Gary Johnson has been focusing major fundraising and media efforts on getting into the presidential debates. But, what if all along he just needed help from an unlikely ally?

A fake story from a bizarre clickbait/conspiracy site staged as a local news outlet, the Santa Monica Observer, ran a headline that went viral: “Donald Trump Will Not Debate Hillary, if Gary Johnson not Allowed to Participate.” It sounds crazy, but it actually could be a superb idea for Donald Trump.

The reasoning is simple. Both Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein take away more votes from Hillary Clinton than from Trump (in most polls). The RealClearPolitics average shows Clinton leading by 4 percent head-to-head, but only leading by 3 percent in a four-way race. The latest Fox News poll shows Clinton winning by 6 percent head-to-head, but Clinton wins just by 2 percent in a four-way race.

For this to work, Trump needs to demand that both Johnson and Stein make the debates. I argued just last week that both parties should be afraid of Johnson because he has earned support both from disaffected Democrats and Republicans. Stein’s campaign is mirroring Bernie Sanders’ campaign and would be guaranteed to win over some young liberals.