Members of the Libertarian Party are divided about leadership’s decision to allow former President Donald Trump and Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to speak at the party’s national convention this weekend.
Trump is scheduled to address party members Saturday evening at the Washington Hilton in Washington D.C., while Kennedy spoke on Friday. However, members running for president and the chairmanship hold varying views of both candidates’s participation in the convention.
Libertarian National Committee Chair candidate Mark Rutherford called the decision to invite both candidates “inappropriate.”
“Trump’s inappropriate, so is Kennedy, because they are going to be competing against our candidates,” Rutherford said to the Washington Examiner. “This is about our candidates. That should be the focus. I don’t care — the publicity. It’s going to confuse people. Why are these people here? Are they Kennedy supporters? Are they Trump supporters? Who are they?”
The party’s business was interrupted Friday night after one delegate attempted to issue a motion to remove Trump from the schedule. Another delegate then shouted into the microphone that the party should tell Trump to “go f*** himself” and attempted to rush the stage before being removed from the room.
Possible vice presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also received boos during his speech when he brought up Trump.
Speaking to the Washington Examiner after his speech, Ramaswamy touted the “historic moment” of Trump and himself speaking at the Libertarian party’s convention.
“I think it’s a good thing. And so I think it’s a good thing and a beautiful moment for the country,” said Ramaswamy.
Charles Ballay, a presidential candidate for the Liberation party, said while he didn’t have a problem with Trump and Kennedy speaking, he did have worries that their presence could confuse the party’s message to the public.
“I would hate to see that, you know, you guys publish something that they think that all libertarians are MAGA supporters or RFK supporters,” said Ballay. “I think sometimes some of the headlines that I’ve seen over the past week or two could be misconstrued and that’s unfortunate.”
Libertarian National Committee presidential candidate Chase Oliver echoed Ballay’s concerns that Trump and Kennedy’s presence at the Washington D.C. convention would confuse the party’s brand.
“My real fear with them speaking here is that it confuses our brand with a casual voter,” said Oliver. “Most voters aren’t super keyed in yet, and so when they see Donald Trump or RFK, speaking in front of a Libertarian Party banner, or even God forbid, claiming to be a libertarian when they clearly are not, that will confuse our brand.”
Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle defended the decision by touting the national attention that having Trump and Kennedy speak at the convention has given party candidates.
“I think that the media attention that we’ve gotten our candidates specifically from inviting these other people has been an unprecedented amazing move, and that it’s very good for the party and specifically for our presidential and vice presidential candidates,” McArdle said.
Still, not all of the party’s candidates were concerned about inviting the candidates. Michael Rectenwald, another presidential candidate, felt that Trump and Kennedy attending the convention provided members an “opportunity” to draw a sharp contrast instead, and rejected the idea that inviting the candidates meant the party was “selling itself out.”
“There’s this kind of sense from some of the contingents within the Libertarian Party that inviting Trump means that the party is somehow you know, selling itself out to the right wing or something like that. That’s absolutely untrue,” said Rectenwald. “There is no contingent within the Libertarian party that wants to make the party more Trump-like. That’s absolutely a mischaracterization”
Trump will need the support of Libertarians and moderate voters in order to win a second term in the White House.
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An average of national polling by RealClearPolitics sees Trump leading Biden currently in a head-to-head race, though still within the margin of error.
The Libertarian Party is holding the convention to chose its presidential nominee, though a final nomination won’t happen till Sunday. The nominee will appear on ballot in November competing against Trump, Kennedy, and Biden.