Trump Tries to Spin Disaster and Disqualification at Libertarian Convention
Trump, as usual, had a different version of events.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
After a disastrous weekend at the Libertarian National Convention, Donald Trump claimed he would have cinched the third-party nomination if he had not been disqualified for failing to file the correct paperwork.
On Sunday, Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle ruled that because the former president did not actually submit nominating papers, he was not qualified to receive her party’s nomination.
Trump, as usual, had an alternative version of events, posting on Truth Social Sunday his reasoning for not submitting the correct documents, while adding his thoughts on the “enthusiasm” of the crowd, who were in fact booing the former president for the most part.
“The reason I didn’t file paperwork for the Libertarian Nomination, which I would have absolutely gotten if I wanted it (as everyone could tell by the enthusiasm of the Crowd last night!), was the fact that, as the Republican Nominee, I am not allowed to have the Nomination of another Party,” he wrote.
On Saturday, the former president was met with a less-than enthusiastic crowd, and elicited angry heckling and boos while he pleaded for Libertarian support and asked specifically for delegates to nominate him.
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“Now I think you should nominate me, or at least vote for me, and we should win together,” he said on stage. “Only do that if you want to win. If you want to lose, don’t do that.”
In his post on Sunday, Trump also took a shot at independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who failed to get the party’s nomination in the first round of voting.
“Regardless, I believe I will get a Majority of the Libertarian Votes. Junior’ Kennedy is a Radical Left Democrat, who’s destroyed everything he’s touched, especially in New York and New England, and in particular, as it relates to the Cost and Practicality of Energy. He’s not a Libertarian. Only a FOOL would vote for him!”
Ultimately, 19 delegates voted for RFK Jr., while total of only six delegates wrote in Trump’s name, according to CNN; an underwhelming number for someone who claimed to be close to winning.
It appears that not everyone is buying the former president’s close-call with victory, including Todd Hagopian, the former treasurer of the Libertarian party. “Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump for getting 6 out of 800+ votes, after begging the Libertarian National Convention to nominate him,” Hagopian posted to X on Sunday.
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