A day after he learned he would be left out of the first presidential debate, Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson called it "a rigged game" as he campaigned on his platform of social liberalism and fiscal conservatism in downtown Seattle.

Johnson, a former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, held a rally in a packed ballroom at the Seattle Sheraton hotel Saturday afternoon, followed by a fundraiser.

The visit came a day after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced he did not qualify for the first presidential debate — a major blow to his campaign — after he failed to reach the required 15 percent polling threshold. Only Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump will take part in the Sept. 26 nationally televised debate.