Will Libertarians vote for Trump?

The Libertarian Party announced its presidential candidate Monday, and from the looks of it, they may as well have chosen Donald Trump.

Chase Oliver is the porcupines’ pick for president, as RFK Jr. was rejected and Trump was ineligible for the nomination. Otherwise he “would have absolutely gotten” it if he wanted it, per his Truth Social account.

Oliver describes himself on his website as having “[been] recognized as the ‘most influential Libertarian’ by Rolling Stone, [and] garnered national attention following his debate with incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker’s empty podium. With over 80,000 votes, Oliver forced a runoff between the Republican and Democratic candidates. Now he wants to bring a new vision to the broken two-party system as he runs for president of the United States.”

Politico references Oliver’s description of himself as “armed and gay” and reports “his foray into politics came as an anti-war protester in the early 2000s, and… he plans to target young voters angry about the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses, Twitch and TikTok.” Oliver has also expressed support for Drag Queen Story Hour, which he says is “like the Wiggles,” is pro-Black Lives Matter, supports gender-dysphoric children taking puberty blockers and hormones and undergoing facial feminization surgeries — and advocates for open borders policies. 

Some members of his own party don’t seem super keen on Oliver’s candidacy, however. Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that the Libertarian Party had planned to have Trump headline their national convention this month; 45 was then “booed and heckled” at the event. Prominent libertarian Jeremy Kauffman even held up a sign during Trump’s speech declaring, “MAGA = Socialist.” But when the Libertarian Party announced Oliver as their candidate, Kauffman labeled him “a gay race communist” and pledged his support to Trump. Clint Russell, the host of the Liberty Lockdown podcast, similarly said, “I just want to make this very clear: Chase Oliver does not represent most libertarians and very few of us will be supporting him come November.” Former Libertarian Party presidential nominee Austin Petersen asserted, “Chase Oliver is the best Libertarian Party candidate for helping reelect Donald Trump.”

Before we spend much more time weighing Oliver’s virtues, let us remember that though the party has its virtues, historically, the Libertarian Party “typically receives around 1 percent or less of the national vote share.”

-Teresa Mull

On our radar

ABORTION FRONT AND CENTER The political action committee helping Democrats win control of the House this November is spending $100 million on ads about abortion. House Majority PAC said in a memo to donors they hope to motivate voters to support candidates who will protect “reproductive freedoms.” 

ALITO FLAGGED… AGAIN The New York Times dropped a new story accusing Justice Samuel Alito of lying about the reason why his wife flew an inverted American flag outside of their home in January 2021. The article interviews the young couple, who admit they put up signs in the neighborhood featuring charged political messages and vulgar language, at the center of the spat with the Alitos. 

THE FATE OF THE PR PIER President Joe Biden’s temporary pier aimed at delivering aid to Gaza is temporarily decommissioned as a portion of the structure broke off in rough seas. The humanitarian pier was only operational for twelve days before this latest hurdle. 

Trump trial goes to jury 

Donald Trump’s hush-money trial proceeded to a close Tuesday. Closing arguments from the prosecution involved accusing Trump of engaging in a conspiracy to hoodwink voters in 2016. The biggest highlight from the defense arguments included labeling Michael Cohen as the “greatest liar of all time.” The jurors will begin deliberations today, with a verdict not likely to be seen even by the end of the week.

President Biden’s campaign figured Tuesday was the perfect time to hold a press conference outside of the trial featuring actor Robert De Niro and two Capitol police officers who previously testified to Congress about what happened on January 6.

“I don’t mean to scare you,” De Niro said just outside the courthouse. “No no, wait, maybe I do mean to scare you. If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss away these freedoms that we take for granted, and elections, forget about it. If he gets in, he will never leave.” Quite the claim. De Niro exchanged expletives with Trump supporters on his way out.

If you are having a hard time keeping track of every Trump trial, here’s the latest on the classified document case. Florida’s Judge Aileen Cannon (nominated by Trump) denied Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion to clarify that the defendant can’t make statements that could put law enforcement in danger. Supposedly, Trump’s claim that President Biden was “locked and loaded” and “ready to take me out” during the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago has caused havoc.

–Ella Johnson

Texas tussles

The Lone Star State delivered a Texas-sized win for school-choice proponents, while handing the embattled Freedom Caucus chair a narrow defeat.

In a series of primary and subsequent runoff elections, Republicans ousted a slew of incumbents who had joined with their Democratic counterparts to tank Governor Greg Abbott’s push to bring school choice down south. According to Abbott, the results show that “Texans want school choice.”

Abbott and his deep-pocketed allies at the Club for Growth and the American Federation for Children’s super PAC spent well over $10 million backing pro-school choice candidates and attacking anti-voucher Republicans, many of whom were otherwise aligned with the governor. 

“Me and the others that he came after have been with him 100 percent of the time on every issue except this one,” outgoing representative Steve Allison lamented in a statement ironically laced with improper grammar; he lost his primary earlier this year. “What the governor did is extremely wrong.”

It wasn’t all great news for the pro-school choice faction. Several pro-voucher incumbents lost to primary challengers, but their races were more animated by animus from Ken Paxton, the state’s powerful attorney general, who has been on a crusade against many of the Republicans who unsuccessfully tried to oust him earlier this year.

One scalp that Paxton couldn’t claim is that of the state’s speaker, Dade Phalen, who narrowly prevailed over a primary opponent who was also endorsed by former president Donald Trump. Phalen became the target of much intra-party ire after backing the impeachment of Paxton on corruption and bribery charges almost exactly one year before his primary win last night.

Elsewhere in the state, Congressman Tony Gonzales squeaked past YouTuber Brandon Herrera, who moved from North Carolina to primary the maverick Republican. Herrera was backed by Congressman Bob Good, who helms the Freedom Caucus, along with Matt Gaetz and a platoon of online commentators. While the Gonzales-aligned forces buried Herrera in spending, he’ll wind up prevailing by well under 1,000 votes when all is said and done.

Finally, in the runoff to succeed Congresswoman Kay Granger, Republicans nominated state representative Craig Goldman, a top Phalen deputy who decisively beat a Paxton-backed opponent in the runoff. 

Paxton was defiant in the wake of Phalen’s win and Goldman’s incoming promotion to Congress, warning lawmakers: “You will not return if you vote for Dade Phelan again.”

–Matthew Foldi