2000’s Third-Party Conservative Pat Buchanan Talks 2016’s Third-Party Conservative Effort

On Fox Business’ Cavuto Coast-to-Coast Tuesday afternoon, host Neil Cavuto asked 2000’s Reform Party presidential candidate Pat Buchanan to weigh in on the current efforts to draft a third-party conservative into the general election.

Buchanan, who ran for president in 2000 as the Reform Party’s candidate, said that “the certain result” of the enterprise, currently being championed by conservative commentators like Bill Kristol and aided by Mitt Romney, would be to deliver the White House to Hillary Clinton.

Buchanan dismissed the notion that a third-party could win enough states to throw the election to the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. “Somebody ought to take away their box of crayons,” he said. He pointed to Ross Perot, who won just under 19 percent of the popular vote in 1992, but did not win a single state.

Cavuto noted that they were having difficulty drafting a potential candidate. “When even Mark Cuban turns it down, you’re know you’re not coming up aces,” he quipped.

Buchanan had previously told the Washington Post that if a conservative agreed to be the candidate, “The career of the individual would come to an end, and he would have a difficult spot in history for being responsible for putting Hillary Clinton in the White House.”

[image via screengrab]

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