Evan McMullin has been an interesting candidate this election cycle. The rise of Donald Trump through the Republican Party to become the party’s nominee has damaged the fragile safe spaces of many moderates and neoconservatives across the spectrum. This has led to the likes of Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney running elsewhere. McMullin, a man with connections to establishment Republicans in Congress and the Council on Foreign Relations, is running as the anti-Trump candidate in the general election.

The dynamic of this election cycle is bizarre. In years past, the Republican Party has stood by the hawkish rhetoric of the neoconservative movement. In the post 9/11 era, war became the answer to everything and fear was the justification for it all.

Now, thanks to Trump, the neoconservatives are fleeing to the Democratic Party. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton herself is a hawk who has supported past unconstitutional conflicts such as the invasion of Iraq.

It’s for this reason why Evan McMullin is running purely against Donald Trump, only on occasion taking swipes at Clinton to give the appearance of impartiality. Given his ties to Republican establishment, it’s not surprising he opposes the man driving the hawkish neoconservative movement from the Republican Party.

In terms of beliefs and principles, Johnson and Trump may be quite a ways apart. From immigration and policy to tact and composure, the two candidates are at a bit of a distance. But what Johnson and Trump do have in common is a shared interest in defeating the neoconservative movement which has driven the United States into a state of endless war.

The “Aleppo” question was a setup with poor context designed to trip up Johnson and thus discredit him.

Destroyed cell phones, deleted Benghazi e-mails, and endless lies from Hillary Clinton are all secondary to Gary Johnson not knowing about some city in the Middle East. That makes no sense, but continues a trend of the political mainstream protecting Clinton at all costs.

Evan McMullin may not be a direct shill or plant for Hillary Clinton, but his candidacy is designed with the aim to specifically spite Donald Trump. He isn’t trying to get elected and certainly won’t. Instead of running on a set of principles, his entire aim is to stop someone else. His candidacy will protect the neoconservative that Republicans can stomach: Hillary Clinton.

Now McMullin is attacking Johnson’s credibility, portraying him as a weak candidate. While McMullin is just a staffer on the Hill, whereas Johnson has an actual record of experience that includes being a popular two-term Governor.

At the end of the day, Johnson may be considered a long shot, but he’s still credible. He’s polling in the high single digits, danced in the double digits, and is on the ballot in all fifty states. McMullin barely registers a blip on the radar, has missed multiple ballot deadlines, and is a nobody in American politics. McMullin is in no position to dictate to Johnson or even Jill Stein what a credible candidate looks like, when he is – at best – a parody of the very thing he’s claiming to be.