NOTE: Sadly, this scheme fell apart when Thor announced today he would not run for president. See the update below.
For the last few days, Stu Burguiere, one of the co-hosts of Glenn Beck’s daily radio program, has been promoting a desperate, last-ditch effort to prevent either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton from winning the required 270 electoral votes to become president that he is calling “Bailout 2016.”
The plan involves finding a third party candidate who can be placed on ballots in deep red states like Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and possibly a few others, around whom “Never Trump” conservatives could rally for the purpose of hampering Trump without helping Clinton in order to create a scenario in which no candidate can secure the necessary number of electoral votes.
As the plan explains, if a third party candidate could win the popular vote in a few conservative states, it could deny Trump a handful of electoral votes that he would need to win the election outright, thereby sending the election to the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, which would then hopefully choose this third party candidate to be president and save America from either a Trump or a Clinton presidency.
Among the names floated by Burguiere when he first laid out this plan was Brad Thor, a right-wing author of thriller novels who is probably best known for getting Beck’s radio show suspended earlier this year after Trump supporters accused him of calling for Trump’s assassination.
During President Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention last night, Burguiere and Thor came together on Twitter to rally behind this plan and it looks like Thor is all in:
If we could chart a path to 15% in polls, so that I could debate, I would gladly run. pic.twitter.com/AXVQhVXKOY
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) July 28, 2016
If you’re serious about a 3rd party – I’ll take it https://t.co/YMw1HTuIYH
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) July 28, 2016
Only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for Conservatives to do nothing. If I do something, would you support me pic.twitter.com/QWkc6i1P1R
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) July 28, 2016
Let’s start this ball rolling… Sign up to volunteer to draft @BradThor ! https://t.co/uTPGB9kmU8 #bailout2016
— STU BURGUIERE (@WorldOfStu) July 28, 2016
Would vote for Brad Thor as a serious Third Party candidate:
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) July 28, 2016
Ha ha. We’re going to do it. https://t.co/IXf0jkLeHW
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) July 28, 2016
Update: Despite all of Thor’s bluster on Twitter last night, he appeared on Beck’s radio program today to declare that he is not, in fact, running for president:
