Fox Business Network's John Stossel will be hosting a Libertarian town hall event on Friday night featuring presidential nominee Gary Johnson Gary Earl JohnsonWhat the numbers say about Trump's chances at reelection Presidential race tightens in Minnesota as Trump plows resources into state The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden condemns violence, blames Trump for fomenting it l Bitter Mass. primaries reach the end l Super PAC spending set to explode MORE and running mate William Weld.

The Libertarian town hall event is the first to be broadcast on any Fox network.

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CNN hosted two Libertarian town halls earlier this year to surprisingly strong ratings, particularly in the 25-54 age demographic advertisers covet most.

Stossel, a libertarian himself, spoke to The Hill about his history with the party, as well as tonight's event from New York.



The longtime television reporter said he wasn’t always a libertarian.

“No, I began my reporting career as a typical media leftist, repeatedly calling for more regulation. That won me 19 Emmy awards,” Stossel explained. “Then I saw how most of that regulation made life worse.”

Stossel said he “wised up” while reading the works of Nobel prize-winning economists F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman, along with Reason Magazine.

“I'm not a member of the Libertarian Party. I'm a registered Democrat. But I'm attracted to libertarianism because it makes sense,” he explains. “I see how politicians always move toward more rules, and the accumulated rules crush freedom and opportunity."



“Libertarian ideas,” Stossel said, “are what allowed America to become the most prosperous country in the world.”



Johnson, a former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, is winning 8.9 percent support in the most recent RealClearPolitics average of national polls.

The Commission on Presidential Debates sets the bar for joining the presidential debate stage at 15 percent.

If he can get to 12 or 13 percent, Stossel said, Johnson should be allowed onstage.

“More importantly, the 'Commission on Presidential Debates' is not some long-established neutral arbitrator of presidential debates,” he said. “It's a private company formed just 20-some years by the Republican and Democratic parties.

“No wonder they're biased against other parties,” he added.

Friday night's hourlong town hall kicks off at 9 p.m.

When it's all said and done, Stossel says he wants the primary takeaway to be understanding the benefits of the Libertarian platform.

“There's one party that doesn't want to police the world, your bedroom, your workplace, your speech, your body, and also wants to stop America from spending ourselves broke,” he said.

Stossel predicted the event would convince voters to abandon major-party nominee Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE (R) and Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Democratic super PAC to hit Trump in battleground states over coronavirus deaths Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE (D).



“After my show, 15 percent of the voters will realize that Johnson [and] Weld are better than Trump and Hillary. They'll qualify for the debates. Millions will finally learn about them, so Johnson will be president this year.”