Who is participating in the first 2016 presidential debate?

The first presidential debate of 2016 will take place on Monday night. Who will be on stage to take part?

With Election Day fast approaching, the first presidential debate will take place on Monday night, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. ET. So who will be on stage at Hofstra University (in Hempstead, NY)  to take part in the volley of criticism?

First off, let’s take a look at who won’t be participating on Monday night. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green party candidate Jill Stein did not reach the minimum threshold to participate. Via the Wall Street Journal, The Commission on Presidential Debates has a few requirements to take part, including at least 15% support of the national electorate in five predetermined marquee polls.Those five polls are conducted by ABC-Washington Post, CBS-New York Times, CNN-ORC, Fox News and NBC/The Wall Street Journal.

Johnson criticized the commission that is keeping him from participating in Monday night’s debate.

"“The Commission is a private organization created 30 years ago by the Republican and Democratic parties for the clear purpose of taking control of the only nationally-televised presidential debates voters will see,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement. “At the time of its creation, the leaders of those two parties made no effort to hide the fact that they didn’t want any third party intrusions into their shows.”"

Without Johnson and Stein, as expected due to their long shot status, we are left with the Republican and Democratic nominees for president for the first debate. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Donald Trump is on the Republican ticket and Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

The first presidential debate will be moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt, and it’s scheduled to take 90 minutes. It can be watched in a variety of ways, via traditional television on any national network with any tilt toward news, streaming on those networks’ websites or live streams on YouTube and Twitter.

Related Story: When does the first presidential debate start?

This presidential election cycle has already had a reality show feel. Adding to that will be the crowd on Monday night, with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban expected to be there in support of Clinton. Trump has countered, with his own invitation to the debate.

I won’t go into the details of why Gennifer Flowers has name recognition, but a Google search and a little digging should tell you all you need to know. Based on that, it’s not all surprising that Trump has taken things up a notch with an almost-comical “threat”. Strap in, things will surely be interesting on Monday night.