Libertarians Spurn Both Trump and RFK Jr., as RFK Jr. Loses Race and Trump Fails to Even Qualify
Chase Oliver has been selected by the Libertarian Party as their choice for president in 2024. Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were not even eligible for the position. In US presidential elections, third parties have seldom been competitive, and the Libertarian nominee received 1% of the vote four years ago.
However, the rematch between Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden, which might again depend on narrow margins of victory in a few closely contested states, has drawn greater attention to the party's nomination this year. Trump made an appearance to speak at the conference in Washington. After his speech was loudly booed at, he did not receive the support he sought, nor did he even qualify for voting rounds, and only received two write-in ballots, per Independent.
Remarkably, Kennedy, who had a more cordial welcome when he addressed the gathering on May 24, criticizing both Trump and Biden for their approaches, lost the first round of the nomination contest with a mere 2.07% of the vote from 19 delegates. As an independent, Kennedy is essentially launching a spoiler campaign against the nominees from the Democratic and Republican parties, per PBS News.
Libertarians value individual liberty and limited government, and they have a variety of policy views that might be classified as liberal, conservative, or neither. After seven rounds of voting at the party's convention in Washington, DC, on May 26, Oliver—who has campaigned for Congress from Georgia many times—was chosen, defeating contenders including Michael Rectenwald and Mike ter Maat.
Following his win, Oliver told CNN that getting in front of "as many people as possible" would be crucial to influence a race that Biden or Trump would almost certainly win. Oliver also promised to be "a fly in the ointment of the two-party system."
Oliver has advocated for more work permits, an easier road to citizenship for foreign nationals, the “decriminalization” of abortion, and a boycott of US involvement in overseas conflicts. Additionally, he was outspoken in his criticism of Trump, calling it a “mistake” to have invited him to the Libertarian convention and addressing the Republican, “You are not a libertarian… You’re a war criminal and you deserve to be shamed by everyone in this hall.”
Oliver is an activist from Atlanta who has previously represented Georgia in the US Senate and US House. On his campaign website, he demands the elimination of the death penalty, the closing of all military posts abroad, the cessation of military aid to other countries, and significant reductions to the federal budget. Oliver emphasized in his plea to Libertarians his desire to expand the party across the country while running for president.
“I wanted to demonstrate to the delegates and to the voters that we have the drive and energy to push ourselves everywhere to grow our party’s foundation in every state,” Oliver said in an interview with POLITICO.
