Libertarian nominee on debate: ‘We deserve better’

Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson said that Americans “deserve better” that what they got from Monday’s presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

{mosads}In a statement, Johnson said Trump painted the picture of an unrecognizable country, while Clinton made promises that would drive the country into debt.

“I heard Donald Trump describing a country I don’t recognize, and I heard Hillary Clinton writing checks we can’t possibly cash,” said Johnson, who, like Green Party nominee Jill Stein, wasn’t invited to Monday’s debate.

“Americans don’t want their children and grandchildren to inherit a $20 trillion debt, and they didn’t hear anything tonight that will keep that from happening,” Johnson said. “Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump are afraid to tell the truth about spending. It’s easier to just promise more of it and send the next generation the tab.”

Johnson also criticized Trump’s support for “stop and frisk” policies in American cities.

“Americans believe in the Constitution and the protections it’s supposed to provide. Mr. Trump appears willing to ‘frisk’ those protections away if they get in the way of his version of fixing things,” he said.

“We deserve better, but what we saw tonight was a promise that the bickering, the pandering and the polarization will continue,” the former New Mexico governor added. “America is already great. It’s great leaders we are lacking, and I don’t think we found them on the stage tonight.”

Candidates needed to reach at least 15 percent in select polls to make the stage under the criteria used by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Johnson and his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, answered questions from followers in a Facebook Live video broadcast from New York.

Stein also appeared on a live stream outside Hofstra University, where the debate was held, coinciding with the debate time. Ahead of the debate, Stein was escorted by law enforcement off the debate site.

Evan McMullin, another third-party candidate, is using the debate to fundraise for his anti-Trump campaign.