Former President Trump mocked Libertarians while speaking at their own convention over the weekend after he was met with boos from the crowd.
Trump attempted to make an appeal to Libertarians during their national convention on Saturday, at one point even suggesting that they should nominate him as their candidate for the 2024 election. That suggestion was quickly met with boos from the audience.
“Only do that if you want to win,” he told the crowd, speaking about nominating him. “If you want to lose don’t do that. Keep getting your 3 percent every four years.”
The Libertarian Party has rarely seen significant support in recent presidential elections.
Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen received just over 1 percent of the national vote share during the 2020 election. Gary Johnson, the 2016 Libertarian candidate, received about 3.3 percent of the national vote in the 2016 election.
Throughout his speech Saturday, Trump urged the Libertarians to “combine with us” to beat President Biden in November. He said he wanted to “extend a hand of friendship” to the party as he asked for the party’s support.
“I’m asking for the Libertarian Party’s endorsement, or at least lots of your votes,” Trump said at one point, which was met with some boos.
There were also some Trump supporters in the crowd, who at times chanted “We want Trump.”
Trump also committed to appointing a Libertarian in his Cabinet if he wins the presidential election in November.
He also vowed to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, who is serving life in prison for his role in operating a platform for buying and selling illegal drugs.
Trump’s appearance at the Libertarian National Convention came just one day after independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the crowd at the same event.
The independent candidate had challenged Trump to formally debate him at the convention.