McMullin, David Evan

Evan McMullin was born in Provo , Utah , to the family of David McMullen and his wife, Lani Bullard. The eldest of four children. When he was a little older, his parents moved to a suburb of Seattle , Washington ^[6] , where his father worked as a computer scientist, and his mother sold various bulk goods in a store located in a family garage ^{[7] [8]} . Now his parents are divorced, his mother married a woman ^{[9] [10]} .

McMullin grew up in a suburb of Seattle. ^[6] In 1994, he graduated from Auburn Senior High School in Auburn, Washington ^[11] and went on a mission to the Mormon Church in southern Brazil ^[6] . The last summer before graduation, he worked on a fishing trawler in Alaska . Then McMullin graduated from Brigham Young University , where in 2001 he received a bachelor's degree in international law and diplomacy ^[12] . In 2011, the future presidential candidate received a master 's degree in business management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania ^[13] .

After graduating from Brigham Young University in 2001, Evan worked in Amman , Jordan as a refugee resettlement official at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. ^[14] From 2001 to 2011, McMallin served in the CIA, worked in the Middle East , North Africa and South Asia in counterterrorism intelligence ^[14] as a secret agent of Directorate of Operations ^[15] .

Since 2011, McMullin has worked in the investment banking department of Goldman Sachs Corporation ^[8] . In 2013, he became a senior national security adviser to the US House of Representatives International Affairs Committee ( 113th Congress ) ^[14] . In 2015, the former banker served as chairman of the policy committee of the Republican Party’s Assembly of Deputies in the US House of Representatives (chaired by Katie McMorris-Rogers ) ^[16] . Soon after the announcement of the election, McMullin left this post ^[14] .

Since 2013, he has been a member of the international advisory board of the Center for International Studies. Kennedy at Brigham Young University ^[17] . McMullin is also a private member of the Council on Foreign Relations ^[18] .

In March 2016, McMullin spoke at the TED conference at the London Business School . In his speech, he criticized governments in the West and the rest of the world for the fact that genocide and other mass brutalities continue to be carried out and governments allow this. McMullin called for increased “political competition” to motivate leaders through mass activism and the media.

Speaking to the Pennsylvania University Alumni Association in Washington in May 2016, McMullin said that despite the “huge” spending of anti-poverty programs, “the poverty level today in America is the same as it was in the mid-1960s,” which the omission of the federal government. McMullin argues that the government, instead of helping people out of poverty, created a safety net to “make poverty more tolerable” ^[19] .

McMullin is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Single ^[20] . Journalist John Yard described him as “always polite and especially normal looking” ^[21] .

On August 8, 2016, McMullin announced that he was entering the 2016 presidential election race as an independent candidate. ^{[22] [23] [24] [25] [26]} He has the support of several Republican supporters opposing Trump ^{[23] [27] [28]} , as well as several former members of the Better for America movement (which set out to gain countrywide access for an independent candidate for the 2016 presidential election) ^{[14 ] [29]} . McMullin’s campaign also supports the “ Never Trump ” movement ^[30] .

Since McMullin entered the race late, he missed the deadlines for submitting ballots in several states and his last name would not appear on ballots in many states ^[31] . According to Richard Wagner, an election access specialist, “If Better for America can immediately resolve the issue of petitions in about a third of the states,” ^[32] then McMullin will be able to meet deadlines even in states like Texas , where the early deadlines filing petitions. He will receive a nomination from third parties that already have access to the elections by ballot or resort as a last resort to write-in campaigns (that is, voters can enter the name of the candidate for whom they wish to vote on the ballot if it is not indicated on the ballot) ^{[33] [34]} .

On August 8, 2016, the day McMullin started the election race, Republican strategists Khalil Bird and Chris Ashby, third-party ballot admission experts created a political committee called Stand Up America to support McMullin’s campaign. Bird is a former adviser to the Better for America movement. The committee uses television, digital media, various actions and activists' activities, but does not resort to lawsuits to gain access to ballots ^[35] .

McMullin received ballot access in 11 states ^[36] .

On October 6, McMullin named Mindy Finn his Vice Presidential candidate. ^[37] Prior to that, she worked on Twitter and is a digital strategist at the RNC and on the National Council of Republican Senators ^[37] .

McMullin hoped to win the majority of the votes from the two main candidates. In this case, according to the twelfth amendment to the constitution, the House of Representatives will choose among the three candidates with the most votes. In this case, McMullin hopes to defeat the other two candidates and win congressional elections. ^[38]

On a October 12 poll, McMullin was only four points behind Trump and Clinton in Utah (within the margin of error). Since the 1968 presidential election , not a single independent candidate has won elections in individual states. ^[39] In this regard, on October 13, Benjamin Morris wrote on the site FiveThirtyEight about him as “a candidate from third parties who have the greatest chance of winning the election” ^[40] .

As a result, McMullin took third place in Utah, receiving 20.6% of the vote, behind Donald Trump (receiving 46.6% of the state and six electors from the state) and Hillary Clinton (receiving 27.8% of the vote) ^{[41 ]} McMullin promised that despite his defeat, "the struggle for conservative values ​​will continue." ^[42]

McMullin opposes abortion and maintains a proliferative position ^{[43] [44]} . On his campaign website, he opposes the “culture that finances abortion on demand” and states: “Americans can and should work together ... to reduce unintended pregnancies and encourage adoptions, even if they have different views on abortion laws” ^[45] .

McMullin said that although he believes in a “traditional marriage between a man and a woman,” he “respects” the Supreme Court decision in the Obergefell v. Hodges case (recognizing the same-sex marriage as legal) and thinks that “it is time to move on” from the problem gay marriage . He also stated that he would not make appointments to the Supreme Court with a view to overturning the decision in the aforementioned case. ^[46] Nevertheless, he noted that if he is elected, he will appoint judges in the Supreme Court who are supporters of the idea of ​​originalism (immutability of the Constitution) ^[44] “similar to Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas ” ^[47] .

McMullin adheres to the idea of free trade ^[48] and points to the benefits of international trade ^[44] . He supports the NAFTA and the future Trans-Pacific Partnership ^[44] .

McMullin is a supporter of the Republican tax reform plan ^[48] . He believes that it is necessary to reduce the corporate income tax and personal income tax ^[49] and also the real estate tax ^[50] .

He wants to keep the prison at Guantanamo Base open. He maintains border security, but opposes mass deportation, and supports the House’s plan for tax reform ^[51] . He agrees with the terms of the law on health care reform and patient protection , confirming the existing conditions, but believes that “we must create a better system than ObamaCare” ^[52] .

Regarding the civil war in Syria, McMullin declares himself to be “an ardent supporter of international intervention that will be able to stop Bashar al-Assad , who kills innocent Syrians and subsequently enter into negotiations with Assad to leave the country” ^[53] . The candidate also said: “We should do more to support the moderate Syrian opposition and we still need to do this. They don’t get enough support or training, and we know how to do it very well ” ^[53] . He supports the establishment of a no-fly zone over Syria to “stop the aerial bombardment of Syrian populated centers” ^[53] .

McMullin sharply criticized the international nuclear agreement with Iran . He said: “Of course, we must monitor compliance with the terms of the agreement, but I consider it necessary to strengthen sanctions against Iran in order to achieve great concessions from them. I also believe in the need to clearly threaten Iran with a military solution to the problem if they do not want to fulfill the terms of the agreement until the end and if they ultimately decide to work on obtaining nuclear weapons. ”

In an interview with former libertarian presidential candidate Austin Peters, McMullin said he admired leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. ^[55]

On national security issues, McMullin said, “Free America requires the strongest and most effective military and intelligence structure in the world. The courage and commitment to the duty of our people in uniform is undeniable, we must give them equipment, training and support in order to crush all today's threats and ensure the security of our nation in the future ” ^[56] .

McMullin told ABC News that in his view, Donald Trump’s public statements upset US efforts to counter terrorism. "What he does not understand is that in fact we are dependent on Muslims to counter terrorism, to wage war on terrorism." Trump's remarks about Muslims “reduce their willingness to work with us, with other Muslims and reduce our ability to destroy ISIS ” ^[57] . McMullin also criticizes Trump’s alleged rapprochement with Russian President Putin . McMullin accuses Putin of participating in a campaign to destabilize European and North American countries "by fomenting strife between various racial, ethnic and religious groups" ^[38] .

According to The Christian Science Monitor, an online newspaper, in 2014, McMullin helped Caesar (a Syrian deserter and military photographer who stole 55,000 images of regime abuse, based on which a 2014 report on prisoners in Syria was compiled) speak to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs . McMullin ran into State Department officials who, he suspected, wanted to stop the hearing. He claimed that State Department officers wanted to hold a closed hearing ^[58] .

McMullin opposes the use of torture and criticizes Trump for his support of this practice ^[59] .

McMullin takes a scientific look at global warming: “I believe that climate is changing and that human activities are contributing. If I were the president, I increased investments in technologies that can help limit and reduce our carbon dioxide emissions ” ^[44] .

• Evan McMullin for President campaign website
• Evan McMullin on Linkedin