Is CNN trying to interfere in an election?

During a CNN townhall on Monday night at Rice University, moderator Poppy Harlow asked former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to “commit” to dropping out of the 2020 presidential race if he’s hurting Democrats chances of defeating President Donald Trump.

Harlow demanding a commitment came in response to a student saying he wasn’t a big a fan of the two-party system.

After he explained that he believes a third party run would allow him to receive broad support from the electorate, Schultz said there’s no way that he would run as a Democrat.

This didn’t sit well with Harlow, who then grilled Schultz about what it would take for him to drop out of the race.

“So that point, you have said and you just repeated it, that you promise that you will not be a spoiler. That you will not run. That you will not continue running if it would mean a second term for President Trump,” Harlow said.

“If you run, Mr. Schultz, and if you look at the polls in the fall of 2020 and it looks like you are going to be a spoiler, like you will get President Trump re-elected, will you drop off the race?” she asked, assuming Trump can’t win re-election on his own.

“Okay, a very important question, so let’s clarify this right now, right here, on national TV, on CNN. First off, the issue of being a spoiler, how can you spoil a system that is already broken?” Schultz replied.

Still looking for the answer that she obviously wanted, Harlow again tried to pressure the former CEO into dropping out of the race at some point.

“But Mr. Schultz, the fall of 2020 is what I was asking about. If you do run and the numbers don’t add up your way and it looks like it would mean a second term to the President, would you commit to dropping out,” Harlow said, aggressively demanding her answer.

Schultz said he would have to make a determination at the time about what was best for his campaign, which appeared to anger Harlow even more.

The most bizarre part of Harlow’s interrogation was that Schultz hasn’t even officially announced that he’s running for president.

He’s testing the waters and speaking with voters to see where he stands and if he can solidify broad support.

But CNN and others are so terrified that an Independent candidate in 2020 could lead to Trump’s re-election that they are already trying to force Schultz out before he has even gotten in.