Rob Reiner loves democracy so much that he wants to suppress it.

The actor and filmmaker recently posted on X that there should be no third-party candidates in the 2024 presidential election because they might help the Republican nominee win. (Bad news for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. )

"Hard Reality: For our Democracy to survive, two things have to happen. Donald Trump needs to be Convicted for Jan. 6th and there can be no Third Party Candidate," Reiner posted .

What a bad take. Our democratic system benefits from third-party candidates, who challenge the status quo.

Presidential elections are good for democracy insofar as the people have choices. They need to have the ability to vote for a candidate who reflects at least some of their values. Unfortunately, many feel that neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party represents them.

Over one-fourth of the country (27%) has a negative view of both major political parties, according to Pew Research . These people likely have a broad range of political views. Some may be communists and socialists, others libertarians, moderates, or adherents of Catholic social teaching; after all, neither major party is a socially conservative one that supports a more generous social safety net, a worldview held by many immigrants and devout Catholics.

Both major parties fail voters, so there is nothing wrong with people seeking fresh ideas to solve their problems. As opioid deaths and suicides increase; higher education, rent, and childcare costs rise; the quality of public education deteriorates ; and both parties embrace corporate welfare, it's more important to figure out what people want and why they dislike both parties than to chastise them for not being loyal to the Democratic Party.

Yet, this idea that democracy is on the line is nothing new for liberal celebrities such as Reiner. They have been spewing this nonsense for years.

Predicting Republicans would take back Congress in the 2022 midterm elections, liberal comedian Bill Maher said , “Democracy is on the ballot, and unfortunately, it’s going to lose.” He added, “Everything in America is about to change in a fundamental way.”

Although Republicans won the House, weirdly enough, America never transformed into a fascist dictatorship. It's still the same old corporatocracy that bails out big banks , gives corporate welfare to semiconductor manufacturers, and pours money into Ukraine .

Similarly, liberal comedian Chelsea Handler posted last year, "Don't ruin democracy, register to vote” — as if choosing not to vote isn't also a legitimate option.

Yet, in 2020, actress Meghan Markle declared the November election as the most important of our lifetimes.

"Every four years, we're told, 'This is the most important election of our lifetime.' But this one is," she said in September 2020.

It came just two years after liberal comedian Billy Eichner declared the 2018 election as the “most important.”

Democracy is always in grave danger when Democrats can use that messaging to get out the vote. Maybe it would be more honest if these people said, "Shut up and vote Democrat." That's what they really want, anyway.

Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.