This election cycle has been historic in many ways, especially for outsiders. For all intents and purposes, it's Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump. But could the ultimate outsider come in the form of a third-party candidate?
Libertarian Austin Petersen joined The Glenn Beck Program on Tuesday to make his pitch leading into this weekend's Libertarian Convention - and he had a big announcement to make as well.
"We got an email last week and a big check," Petersen said. "We got an endorsement from Mary Matalin who joined the Libertarian Party from the Republican Party. She was so disgusted by he-who-shall-not-be-named, and she joined our campaign and said, 'What can we do?'"
Despite being surprised himself at the endorsement, Petersen feels it might be enough to give him the momentum to become his party's nominee.
"We weren't even courting her. So apparently she was attracted to my message --- being the only pro-life, pro-Constitution candidate who is running for Libertarian nomination... And now I'm running like heck towards that nomination, and I think I have a pretty good shot at it this weekend," Petersen said.
If there was any doubt Petersen can speak Glenn's language, he cleared that up.
"The election now will come down to, should I take the nomination, it will be a Theodore Roosevelt Republican, progressive Republican, make America great again, American nationalism, and then a Wilsonian Democrat. So it's Theodore versus Woodrow, and I'm going to be out there like Calvin Coolidge saying, 'Hey, I just want to leave everyone alone,'" Petersen said.
Co-host Stu Burguiere was quick to make sure the candidate and Glenn's affinity for history did not go unnoticed.
"You're making Calvin Coolidge jokes. You are speaking the geek language of Glenn Beck," Stu said.
Aside from his knowledge of history and beliefs in limited government, there will be one key question for conservative voters.
"Tell me why a vote for you is not a vote for Hillary Clinton."
"Well, I mean, just from an actual technical perspective, if you drink an RC Cola, are you drinking a Coca-Cola? Is that a vote for Pepsi? It just doesn't make any sense," Petersen said.
Technicalities aside, Petersen had additional sound reasoning.
"But the truth is, what do you really want? If you want to reshape the Republican Party, if you want to eject the Trump conservatives or whatever you call them, then a Hillary Clinton victory would do that," Petersen said. "What was the Alexander Hamilton quote? Better there be a leader that we're not responsible for that we can oppose and do so with principles? ... So it depends on what your goal is. If you're trying to fight some sort of a short-term victory and you have no eyes on the long-term, well, I'm 35 years old and I have to live in this country for a long time, I'm trying to fight the long-term battle."
Despite finding a lot of common ground, it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops. Glenn held Petersen's feet to the fire and pressed him on several key issues. Listen to the full interview below for Petersen's stance on the First and Second Amendments, drug legalization and immigration, among other topics. Decide for yourself if he's the kind of candidate you could pull the lever for.
Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
Featured Image: Libertarian presidential candidate Austin Petersen on The Glenn Beck Program, May 24, 2016.