Christian Smith
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump plans to use a speech Saturday night at the Libertarians’ national convention to woo a segment of mostly conservative voters who have often been skeptical of the former president, while trying to reassure Libertarian activists that party are not attracted to the campaign of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Libertarians will choose their candidate for the White House during the meeting in Washington that ends on Sunday. Kennedy, who initially ran in the Democratic primary, spoke at the convention on Friday but indicated he is not interested in being the Libertarian candidate.
Polls have shown for months that a majority of voters, even a majority of Democrats, do not want a 2020 rematch between Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden. That dynamic could potentially increase support for an alternative like the libertarian candidate or Kennedy, whose candidacy has left allies of Biden and Trump concerned that he is a spoiler.
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson won about 3% of the national vote in 2016, when Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in a close race. The party’s nominee, Jo Jorgensen, only polled just over 1% during the tight 2020 race.
Peter Goettler, president and chief executive of the libertarian Cato Institute, suggested in a Washington Post column published this week that Trump’s invitation to the convention violated the gathering’s core values and that “the political party that pretends to be libertarian has transitioned to a different identity.”
The Trump campaign says his appearance is part of an ongoing effort to reach potential supporters in places that are not heavily Republican. For example, he held a rally Thursday in the Bronx during a break in his silent trial in New York. His team expected some at the convention to oppose Trump, but hopes he gets credit for showing up and fighting for votes.
The Libertarian ticket will try to gain support from dissatisfied Republicans, as well as people on the left who oppose supposed government overreach. These voters could also gravitate toward Kennedy.
The son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy cites his record of fighting for the middle class against powerful interests. He is also trying to win over conservatives who want to see the national Republican Party move away from Trump.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine activism appealed to some on the right who oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates. He also suggested that some of the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, may have been prosecuted for political reasons.
Trump has previously praised Kennedy and considered him for a commission on vaccination safety, but has now changed his tone. He suggested on social media that voting for Kennedy would be a “wasted protest vote” and that he would “even put Biden over Junior.”
Trump, while in office, referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as “one of the greatest miracles in the history of modern medicine.” But the former president now says that, if elected, he “would not give a cent” to public schools and universities that require vaccination against COVID-19. He also accused Kennedy of being a “phony” opponent of vaccines — efforts that could bolster Trump’s support among some of his base who might otherwise consider defecting to Kennedy.
In his speech at the convention, Kennedy accused Trump and Biden of trampling on personal freedoms in response to the pandemic that spanned their presidencies. Trump bowed to pressure from public health officials and closed businesses, Kennedy said, while Biden was wrong to require vaccines for millions of workers.
Vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine, have been shown to be safe and effective in laboratory tests and real-world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades. The World Health Organization attributes childhood vaccines to preventing up to 5 million deaths per year.
Although no medical intervention is risk-free, doctors and researchers have proven that the risks of disease are generally much greater than the risks of vaccines.
An anti-vaccine group led by Kennedy has a pending lawsuit against a number of news organizations, including the Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking steps to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. to COVID-19. Kennedy said goodbye to the group when he announced his candidacy for president, but is listed as one of its lawyers in the lawsuit.
Biden, however, trumpeted gaining the support of many prominent members of the Kennedy family in an attempt to marginalize Kennedy.
Biden-supporting advocacy group MoveOn Political Action circulated a mobile billboard around the convention this weekend condemning Kennedy as an “extremist,” criticizing the different positions he has taken on abortion, and arguing that a vote for Kennedy will ultimately help the elect Trump.
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