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By Tim Reid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Presidential candidate Donald Trump was booed and heckled by many during a raucous audience at the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday night, a marked change from the adulation he receives at the gatherings of his fervent loyal supporters.
Libertarians, who believe in limited government and individual liberty, criticize Trump, a Republican, for rushing into creating a COVID-19 vaccine when he was president and not doing more to end public health restrictions imposed on unvaccinated people during the pandemic.
When Trump took the stage in Washington, there were loud boos and jeers. A smaller portion of the crowd, Trump supporters, cheered.
Shortly before his appearance, a member of the Libertarian Party shouted: “Donald Trump should have taken a bullet!” »
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the hostile reception.
Trump, who served as president between 2017 and 2021, immediately mentioned the total of 88 criminal charges he faces in four federal and state lawsuits.
“If I wasn’t a libertarian, I am now,” he said. He denounced the administration of President Joe Biden, his challenger in the November 5 rematch election, and Biden’s Democratic colleagues as part of a “rise of left-wing fascism.”
Trump was trying to appeal to libertarians, who have more in common with Republican policy positions than Democrats on issues such as taxes and the size of government, in what is expected to be a hotly contested election.
He added: “We should not fight against each other. » He asked Libertarians to work with him to defeat Biden, a call that was met with numerous boos, even though the vast majority of the crowd was fiercely opposed to Biden and his administration.
Libertarians garnered just 1.2% of the national vote in 2020, or about 1.8 million votes, but November’s election could be decided by just tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states across the country. battlefield, so Trump seeks to withdraw some support from libertarians.
Trump’s appearance at the Libertarian rally, unusual for a Republican candidate for the White House, also showed how seriously he and his campaign took the threat of long-opposed third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to vaccines and mandates, and who spoke at the convention on Friday.
Trump has stepped up his attacks on Kennedy, who is running as an independent, recently calling him a “fake” anti-vaccination supporter.
Opinion polls suggest Kennedy will siphon votes from both Trump and Biden, but it is not yet clear which of the major party candidates will be most affected by Kennedy’s bid for the White House.
Libertarian Party organizers said Biden was also invited to speak at the convention, but he declined to attend.
“The Libertarian Party can make a big difference. If we come together, we will be unstoppable,” Trump said to a mix of applause and jeers.
Trump said he was a “libertarian without even trying to be” and that the Libertarian Party should support him, another phrase met with boos and jeers.
Undeterred, Trump taunted the crowd, saying that if they didn’t support him, they would continue to garner only a tiny fraction of voter support in national elections.
He pledged to put a libertarian in his cabinet if he wins the election, which was met with cries of “bullshit!”
Trump received plenty of applause for a promise. A rallying cry for libertarians is the case of Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a life sentence for creating and operating the website Silk Road, which allowed users to secretly buy and sell drugs and drugs. other illegal products.
Libertarians believe that Ulbricht’s conviction in 2015 represents an excess of power by the government and the judiciary. In front of a crowd holding “Free Ross” signs, Trump promised to commute Ulbricht’s sentence if he regained the White House.
(Reporting by Tim Reid in Washington; editing by William Mallard)
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