Washington — Former President Donald Trump and independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr. Attempts to appeal to the Libertarian Party were ignored, with third-party crowds interrupting and taunting them at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. this weekend.
As President Trump took the stage on Saturday, chaotic scenes unfolded as Libertarians clashed with pro-Trump attendees throughout his speech. As a result, several people were ejected from the room and the crowd was divided into boos and chants directed at Trump.
As he left the stage, President Trump jeered, saying, “Either you nominate us and give us a seat, or you give us the vote.”
Trump repeatedly criticized the crowd and their hostility, telling them to “keep getting 3 percent (of the national vote) every four years,” adding, “Maybe you don’t want to win.”
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In 2020, Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen received 1.85 million votes, less than 1.2% of the popular vote. And in 2016, the party’s candidate for that cycle, Gary Johnson, received 4.48 million votes, or about 3.3% of the popular vote.
Trump called for commutations in his speech to Libertarian voters. Ross UlbrichtHe was sentenced to life imprisonment. Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road website, was convicted of several felonies related to black market sites. Silk Road allowed users to anonymously buy and sell products, including drugs and fake government documents. The Liberal Party made the liberation of Ulbricht part of its platform.
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But two years ago, in an announcement for his 2024 re-election campaign, Trump urged Congress to pass legislation mandating the death penalty for drug dealers.
On Friday, Kennedy, who received a warmer welcome than Trump, tried to win liberals into his camp by promising to pardon government whistleblower Edward Snowden. Currently in exile in RussiaAnd to drop the espionage charges. Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder is fighting US attempts to extradite him from Britain. Both figures are respected by liberals. He has also repeatedly criticized Trump for his handling of the pandemic, claiming he violated the Constitution by allowing lockdowns and travel restrictions.
The decision by Libertarian Party leaders to host Trump and Kennedy divided the party and prompted an aggressive response from some delegates who sought to exclude both candidates from the event.
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Neither candidate is vying for the Libertarian nomination, but both were hoping to win over some Libertarian voters.
The convention organizers also invited President Biden, but he refused to deliver remarks.
Libertarian leaders said they decided to invite the candidates as a way for lawmakers to speak directly with those likely to win the White House in November.
“We couldn’t be on the debate stage, so we decided to make our own stage the focus of the world’s eyes,” said Brian McWilliams, communications director for the Liberal National Party.
At a business meeting Friday, several delegates were heard shouting expletives at Libertarian Party Chairwoman Angela McArdle, objecting to Trump and Kennedy taking the convention stage.
Some booed and shouted obscenities as McArdle attempted to calm the crowd. Security later escorted one person out of the session.
Arielle Shack, a Libertarian voter who attended Friday’s convention, told CBS News she was attending Kennedy’s protest speech, which coincided with a raucous business meeting.
Shack said he came to the convention from New Jersey to represent other New Jersey liberal voters who believe Kennedy and Trump should not have been invited because they were not true liberals.
“We don’t want people who aren’t liberals. If they don’t have our principles, we won’t vote for them,” Shack said. “You won’t see liberals voting for Kennedy, a Democrat. He didn’t get the Democratic nomination, so now he wants to be independent. But I think we can see through that.”
Another Libertarian voter, Richard Edgar from New Jersey, said he felt Trump and Kennedy’s invitation was a “slap in the face” to Libertarian voters who were looking forward to hearing arguments from Libertarian candidates.
Michael Reeves, a Libertarian leader from Daphne, Alabama, who said he has been a member of the party for about 25 years, said the presence of Trump and Kennedy at the convention “speaks volumes about the influence we can have on elections at this point.” , they think they have to satisfy us in some way.”
Reeves said he would likely vote for a Libertarian candidate after he sits down in 2020. Reeves said Kennedy’s speech was “not bold enough” and that he was “disappointed” with Trump’s first term in the White House.
“I thought he had a chance to actually make a difference in D.C., but he didn’t,” Reeves said of Trump. “The best we can say is he hasn’t started a new war, and that’s a pretty low bar.”
He added that both Democrats and Republicans are making the United States “a more collectivist and authoritarian country.”
“To me, they essentially mean the same thing. The things they disagree on are somewhat minor compared to the things they agree on,” Reeves said. “And they make poor judgments about what they agree on.”
