Former President Donald Trump was met with repeated boos from the crowd during his speech at the Libertarian Party Convention on Saturday night, as he appeared to fail in his attempts to woo Libertarian voters critical of him on issues including the coronavirus, immigration, the war on drugs and foreign policy, as well as his support for a growing federal budget deficit and warrantless spying.
The Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination convention is being held over the weekend at the Washington Hilton Hotel, and candidates include Chase Oliver of Georgia, Michael Recktenwald of Pennsylvania, Charles Valley of Louisiana, and Lars Mapsted of California.
Trump’s attendance at the convention signals an attempt to draw Libertarian Party voters away from the party’s presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent who also spoke at the convention.
When Republican presidential candidate Trump took the stage to speak, he was booed by many libertarians, while some Republican supporters wearing “Make America Great” hats and T-shirts cheered and chanted “USA! USA!”.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Libertarian National Convention at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Washington. (Associated Press)
In his speech, Trump sought to praise “the fierce defenders of freedom in this room” and described President Joe Biden as a “tyrant” and “the worst president in the history of our country,” prompting some in the audience to retort, “That’s you.”
During his speech, Trump called for support and votes for the Libertarian Party, which elicited boos from the audience.
This was unfamiliar territory for the former president, who is accustomed to rallies in front of his supporters, because libertarians do not support the president or many of the policies he proposed during his campaign and in office.
Libertarians, who value small government and individual freedom, have long criticized Trump, and his invitation to the convention divided the party: Some say candidates who disagree with libertarian values should not be welcomed because it distracts from libertarian candidates and causes, while others praised the move, saying Trump’s attendance would bring more media attention to the convention.
Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who ran in the Republican presidential primary but dropped out to support Trump, was one of the non-Libertarians, along with Trump and Kennedy Jr., who spoke at the convention.
Ramaswamy was also booed when he mentioned Trump’s name during his speech on Friday.
Referring to the four criminal indictments against him, Trump tried to appeal to the hostile crowd by joking, “If I wasn’t a libertarian before, I’m definitely a libertarian now.”
Representatives of the Libertarian Party heckle former President Donald Trump as he speaks at the Libertarian National Convention at the Washington Hilton in Washington, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (Associated Press)
Amid boos and criticism throughout his speech, Trump at one point insulted the libertarians he was trying to convince to vote for him.
“Maybe they don’t want to win … they keep getting 3 percent every four years,” he said.
Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson won about 3% of the national vote in 2016, and the party’s 2020 candidate Jo Jorgensen won just over 1% of the vote in that year’s election.
Polls have shown for months that a majority of voters do not want a rematch between Trump and Biden in the 2020 presidential election, which could lead to increased support for alternative candidates such as Libertarian Party nominee Kennedy Jr. or other third-party candidates.
Despite the crowd’s arguments, Trump continued his speech, saying he came to “extend a hand of friendship” because of their shared opposition to Biden.
Chants of “End the Federal Reserve!” began ringing out, a common message among libertarians who oppose the Federal Reserve. Security guards escorted a person away who held a sign that read, “No wannabe dictators!”
Libertarian Party representatives criticize former President Donald Trump as he speaks at the Libertarian National Convention at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Washington. (Associated Press)
Trump tried to impress the crowd by pledging to appoint Libertarian members to his Cabinet if elected president, but many in the audience expressed disbelief.
But the crowd erupted in cheers when the former president promised to commute the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, and potentially even release him after he has served his sentence. Ulbricht was convicted of using his website to sell illegal drugs, though he did not sell any goods himself.
Trump’s promise to commute Ulbricht’s sentence was intended to garner support from libertarians who believed the government’s investigation into Silk Road had gone too far and opposed the drug war. Ulbricht’s case was a hot topic at the convention, and many in the audience held up signs reading “Free Ross” and chanted the phrase during Trump’s speech.
But despite Trump’s promises, many in the crowd remained hostile towards the former president.
“None of us are big fans of Donald Trump,” Recktenwald, a Libertarian candidate, said in a speech before former President Trump arrived. Recktenwald and several other Libertarian candidates took to the stage to mock Trump and his speech.
Regarding Trump’s appearance, Oliver said: “The truth is, I don’t want to have a war criminal on this stage. I don’t think he deserves to be on this stage.”
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Libertarian Party delegates hold signs that read “Liberate Ross” as former President Donald Trump speaks at the Libertarian National Convention at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Washington. (Associated Press)
Hours before Trump’s arrival, Libertarian Party organizers asked Trump supporters in the crowd to vacate the first four rows of seats, many of them to allow convention delegates who had just chosen the Libertarian Party’s candidate to sit further forward. Some Trump supporters initially resisted but eventually moved, and organizers later added more seats.
In his convention speech, Kennedy Jr. accused both Trump and Biden of infringing on personal freedoms amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying Trump had bowed to pressure from public health officials, including former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, to close businesses and criticizing Biden for mandating vaccinations for millions of workers.
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During his administration, Trump called a COVID-19 vaccine “one of the great miracles in the history of modern medicine” and has continued to promote the vaccine since leaving office.
During a break in the hush-money trial in New York, following a rally in the Bronx on Thursday, the Trump campaign argued that the former president’s appearance at the convention was part of an effort to reach out to potential supporters in areas that don’t lean strongly Republican.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
