Gary Johnson says presidential debates are 'rigged' after being left out of first debate


              FILE - In this May 18, 2016 file photo, Libertarian presidential candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson speak with legislators at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. If Hillary Clinton carries Arizona in November, there’s a good chance it won’t be because the Democratic Party alone has picked off a reliably red state it believes will someday be consistently blue. Instead, she may have Gary Johnson to thank. The Libertarian Party nominee’s best chance to impact the 2016 presidential race may well be in Arizona, a traditionally Republican state where he appeals to a group of finicky conservatives who make up part of the party’s base.  (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - In this May 18, 2016 file photo, Libertarian presidential candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson speak with legislators at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. If Hillary Clinton carries Arizona in November, there’s a good chance it won’t be because the Democratic Party alone has picked off a reliably red state it believes will someday be consistently blue. Instead, she may have Gary Johnson to thank. The Libertarian Party nominee’s best chance to impact the 2016 presidential race may well be in Arizona, a traditionally Republican state where he appeals to a group of finicky conservatives who make up part of the party’s base. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

SEATTLE –– A day after he learned he would be left out of the first presidential debate, Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson called it "a rigged game."

Johnson, the former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, was campaigning in Seattle Saturday.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday that Johnson did not qualify for the first presidential debate because he did not reach the required 15 percent polling threshold. Only Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump will take part in the Sept. 26 nationally televised debate.

"It's a rigged game, man," Johnson said at a news conference. "Democrats and Republicans make up the presidential debate commission, 15 percent is not the law. It's Democrats and Republicans not wanting a Ross Perot on the stage again."

Johnson is polling at an average 8 percent nationally, the commission said.

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