Trump, RFK Jr. face hostile reception at Libertarian convention amid efforts to sway voters

washington —Former President Donald Trump and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attempts to appeal to the Libertarian Party fell on deaf ears this weekend, with third-party crowds interrupting and mocking both at the party’s convention in Washington, D.C.

A chaotic scene happened when Trump took the stage on Saturday, as libertarians clashed with pro-Trump attendees throughout his speech, resulting in several people being removed from the room and the crowd split between boos, jeers and chants directed at Trump.

“You can nominate us and give us the position or give us your votes,” Trump said, to boos, as he left the stage.

Trump repeatedly responded to the crowd and their hostility, telling them at one point to “keep getting your 3% [of the national vote] every four years,” adding “maybe you don’t want to win.”

Jo Jorgensen, nominated by the Libertarian Party in 2020, received 1.85 million votes, less than 1.2% of the popular vote. And in 2016, Gary Johnson, the party’s nominee that cycle, received 4.48 million votes, about 3.3% of the popular vote.

In his speech to libertarian voters, Trump called for commutation of Ross Ulbrichtlife sentence. Ulbricht, the founder of the website Silk Road, was found guilty of several crimes linked to the black market website. Silk Road allowed users to anonymously buy and sell products, including drugs and fake government documents. The Libertarian Party made Ulbricht’s release a part of its platform.

However, during the announcement of his 2024 re-election campaign two years ago, Trump called on Congress to pass a law that would impose the death penalty for drug traffickers.

On Friday, Kennedy tried to win Libertarians to his camp promising to pardon government whistleblower Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russiaand drop espionage charges against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder fighting US attempts to extradite him from Britain – two figures revered by libertarians. He has also criticized Trump multiple times for his handling of the pandemic, claiming Trump violated the Constitution by allowing lockdowns and travel restrictions.

The Libertarian Party leadership’s decision to welcome Trump and Kennedy divided the party and provoked aggressive reactions from some delegates who sought to exclude both candidates from the event.

Although neither candidate is competing for the Libertarian nomination, both were hoping to win over some uncommitted Libertarian voters.

Convention organizers also invited President Biden, but he declined to comment.

Libertarian Party leaders said they chose to invite candidates as a way for members to speak directly to those who could win the White House in November.

“We were denied a place on the debate stage, so we decided to make our own stage the focal point for the eyes of the world,” said Brian McWilliams, communications director for the Libertarian National Party.

During a business session on Friday, several delegates were heard shouting profanities at Libertarian Party Chairwoman Angela McArdle in opposition to Trump and Kennedy taking the stage at the convention.

Several booed and shouted obscenities at McArdle as she tried to calm the crowd. Security later escorted a man out of the session.

Arielle Shack, a libertarian voter at Friday’s convention, told CBS News that she was attending Kennedy’s protest speech, which took place at the same time as the turbulent business session.

Shack said he traveled from New Jersey to the convention to represent other New Jersey libertarian voters who felt Kennedy and Trump should not have been invited because they were not true libertarians.

“We don’t want people who aren’t libertarians here. If they don’t have our principles, we won’t vote for them,” Shack said. “You won’t see the Libertarians coming in, voting for a Kennedy, a Kennedy Democrat. [candidacy], so now he wants to be independent. But I think we can see through it.”

Another libertarian voter, Richard Edgar of New Jersey, said he felt Trump and Kennedy’s invitation was a “slap in the face” to libertarian voters, who had hoped to hear the libertarian candidates make their case.

Michael Reeves — a Libertarian delegate from Daphne, Alabama, who said he has been a member of the party for about 25 years — said Trump and Kennedy’s attendance at the convention “speaks well of the influence we could exert in an election right now, which they feel that need to serve us in some way.”

Reeves said he would likely vote for the Libertarian candidate after sitting out 2020. Reeves said Kennedy’s speech “wasn’t bold enough” and he was “disappointed” in Trump’s first term in the White House.

“I thought he had an opportunity to really make some changes in D.C., but he didn’t,” Reeves said of Trump. “The best we can say is that he hasn’t started any new wars, and that’s a very low bar.”

He added that both Democrats and Republicans are moving the country toward a “more collectivist and authoritarian state.”

“To me, they essentially represent the same thing, the things they disagree about are a little minor compared to the things they agree on,” Reeves said. “And they make all the wrong decisions about the things they agree on.”