Libertarians Name Their Candidate

Party picks Chase Oliver over Trump and Kennedy
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2024 6:10 AM CDT
Libertarians Name Their Candidate
Chase Oliver is the Libertarian nominee for president.   (AP Photo/Ben Gray, File)

The Libertarians have chosen their 2024 nominee, and his name isn't Trump or Kennedy. Instead, the party chose Chase Oliver—a former Democrat from Georgia who describes himself as "armed and gay," reports the New York Times. Donald Trump, who spoke to the convention Saturday night and heard plenty of heckling, wasn't an official candidate and received six write-in votes. In a Truth Social statement on Sunday, Trump said he didn't file paperwork to be the third party's nominee but could've won if he wished. (Stormy Daniels received one write-in vote.)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received a warmer reception than Trump when he spoke Friday, but the independent was eliminated in the first round of voting, per the Hill. Oliver got the nod after seven rounds of voting. "Rule No. 1: If you want to elect a real political outsider, don't elect somebody with the last name Kennedy," he said, per the Times. In regard to Trump and President Biden, Oliver added that younger voters "don't want octogenarians running their lives." The party won 1% of the vote in the 2020 election, notes the AP, which adds that it could play an outsize role in 2024 given how close the Biden-Trump matchup is expected to be. (More Libertarian Party stories.)

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