Bill Kristol Pushes Gen. Jim Mattis For Third Party Run: "Patriotic Americans" Will Look At This Choice

On Sunday's This Week roundtable on ABC, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol says Ana Navarro (the Jeb Bush staffer who just said something nice about Donald Trump) is an "easier sell" than himself. "Nothing appeals to you," said Navarro.





BILL KRISTOL: The only thing that appeals to me is what Reince Priebus just called a dumb idea, which is giving the American people a better choice than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump... I think an independent candidacy is totally doable, I think it will happen. The ballot access problems are not --



STEPHANOPOULOS: -- coming up on the filing deadlines --



KRISTOL: -- oh, Texas, North Carolina. Every other state -- no other state's filing deadlines' before June 27th. You couldn't wait until the convention. You'd have to decide after Indiana, possibly after California. I think there will be legal challenges in Texas and North Carolina that the deadlines are too early.



In the '80s, five states were successfully challenged in federal court for having such early filing deadlines. And I think a lot of patriotic Americans are going to look at this choice and -- ranging from activists to donors to possible candidates and say the country deserves better than a Clinton-Trump choice...



Jim Mattis happens to be a social liberal. He's more liberal than I am. He's very concerned about the debt. He's a strong national security hawk. Why wouldn't someone like him...



VANDEN HEUVEL: Because he hasn't been participating in the whole election. You will have -- there will be a riot in Cleveland...



KRISTOL: The facts. The facts. I'm saying if Trump was the Republican nominee, the laws permit independent candidates to petition to get on the ballot. It has happened. Ross Perot got 19 million votes. Jim -- or John Kelly, or many other people.