Erick Erickson endorses McMullin for president

Conservative writer and radio host Erick Erickson is endorsing independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin.

“The reality is Evan McMullin’s candidacy is a long shot,” Erickson wrote on his website Friday, calling the 40-year-old former Republican official and CIA veteran a “sane alternative.”

{mosads}”Though he may not win, he might at least provide disaffected conservatives an excuse to show up and vote down ballot,” Erickson said, referring to House and Senate races.

Erickson argued that “many are so disgusted by 2016 that they will not even show up” while McMullin gives them a reason to vote.

He noted McMullin’s service as a CIA officer for 11 years, as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and as a Republican policy staffer on Capitol Hill.

Erickson, who said McMullin is on track to be on 40 state ballots by November, described Donald Trump (R), Hillary Clinton (D), Gary Johnson (L) and Jill Stein’s (G) candidacies as “profoundly unserious.”

The McMullin endorsement isn’t particularly surprising. Erickson has long criticized Trump. He took a shot at his “privileged background” in his latest article where he stressed that he still opposed Trump despite many people “begging me to reconsider.”

In May, Erickson said he’d advocate for Mitt Romney, whose previous bids he opposed, entering the race.

He was also part of the broader effort to find a conservative alternative to Trump before the businessman locked up the GOP nomination over the summer.

“I am realistic that Evan McMullin has a limited change of winning. But I am idealistic enough to hope for better than Clinton or Trump,” he wrote Friday.