Who is Evan McMullin? Third-party candidate may shake-up presidential election
SALT LAKE CITY -- You’ve probably heard as much as you want to about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump but do you know -- Evan McMullin?
He’s running for president -- and he has a shot at winning Utah.
In his home state of Utah, McMullin is both loved and loathed.
Utah’s six electoral votes were considered safe for Donald Trump until McMullin, a conservative former CIA operative and a Mormon, jumped into the race as a third-party candidate.
Why is he running for president?
“I think Hillary Clinton is deeply corrupt,” McMullin told CBS News. “She’s willing to sacrifice our national security secrets and information. Donald Trump on the other hand, I think is somebody who is willing to divide our country -- race against race, religion against religion, and he does pose a true danger to our country.”
McMullin is on the ballot in just 11 states, but winning Utah could block Trump’s narrow path to the White House.
If the race is so close that neither Clinton nor Trump get 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives picks the next president. If McMullin wins Utah, he would be one of the choices.
Does he acknowledge that he has basically zero chance of winning?
“That’s a strong statement,” McMullin said. “Our odds are very long. They are dependent upon the race being very close.”
The race took a nasty turn when a prominent Trump supporter sent out a robocall attacking McMullin, which the Trump campaign has condemned.
“Evan is over 40 years old and is not married and doesn’t even have a girlfriend,” the robocall said. “I believe Evan is a closet homosexual.”
McMullin said Trump is afraid.
“Donald Trump is scared of me and scared of what my campaign is doing in Utah and elsewhere,” he said. “He’s afraid of being humiliated. He’s a very fragile man.”
But is McMullins’s support strong enough to upset Trump? Only Election Day will tell.
