Bernie Sanders warns: A third party vote is a vote for Trump

.@BernieSanders: Voting for anyone but Clinton essentially "a vote for Trump." https://t.co/liTKZNYuTx #ThisWeek https://t.co/9e2gM17mAz

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 2, 2016

The evidence is overwhelming that the next president of the United States is going to be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I think if you’re voting for somebody else, in a sense, and not supporting Clinton because she doesn’t live up to all of your specifications or all of your ideas, I think in a sense it is a vote for Trump.

This echoes similar comments from President Obama:

If there’s one message I want to deliver to everybody: If you don’t vote, that’s a vote for Trump. If you don’t vote, that’s a vote for Trump. If you vote for a third-party candidate who’s got no chance to win, that’s a vote for Trump.

Sanders also emphasized that Gary Johnson’s record is too conservative for his supporters, specifically on the environment:

I think also, take a look at Gary Johnson’s record on the environment, on the economy. It is a very conservative approach, something that I think most of my supporters do not support.

Paul Krugman concurs.

What really struck me, however, was what [Johnson’s] platform says about the environment. It opposes any kind of regulation; instead, it argues that we can rely on the courts. Is a giant corporation poisoning the air you breathe or the water you drink? Just sue: “Where damages can be proven and quantified in a court of law, restitution to the injured parties must be required.” Ordinary citizens against teams of high-priced corporate lawyers — what could go wrong?

The fact is this: The true protest vote in 2016 is a vote FOR Hillary Clinton.