The Libertarian Party in the United States chose a different nominee for president after Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. each gave speeches at the party’s convention over Memorial Day Weekend.
On May 26, delegates from the Libertarian Party nominated Chase Oliver for U.S. president, giving a face to the third-largest political party in the country ahead of the November 2024 elections. The 38-year-old comes into the presidential race with the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens poised to vote for either President Joe Biden or Donald Trump, the presumptive nominees for their respective Democratic and Republican parties.
Oliver’s nomination happened after Trump addressed the Libertarian Party convention on May 25. Reports suggested many had booed the former president or shouted he was a “liar” and “panderer” for pretending to embody the party’s values. RFK Jr. also spoke at the convention on May 24 but was eliminated from consideration as a nominee after receiving just 2% of the vote.
Many members of the Libertarian Party have supported aspects of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC). The party’s platform states that individuals “engaged in voluntary exchange should be free to use as money any mutually agreeable commodity or item.”
Related: Neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump are crypto champions
Though Oliver has often publicly expressed his views on the economy and individual choice, Cointelegraph could not find his opinions on digital assets at the time of publication. The Libertarian nominee supports the release of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who is currently serving two life sentences for his role in launching and running the online marketplace.
“Trump said he will put a Libertarian in his cabinet, protect crypto, prevent [a central bank digital currency] and commute Ross’ sentence,” said Republican Corbin Sabol in a May 26 X post. “Yet that’s not good enough for Libertarians [...] they nominated Chase Oliver and probably won’t even get 3% this time.”
Oliver also called for support to nominate Mike ter Maat as his running mate. The 63-year-old Portland native’s platform included opposition to the Federal Reserve issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and for cryptocurrency to be unregulated. He supported prison time for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for defrauding customers.
The Libertarian Party — despite being the third-largest in the United States — won only roughly 3% of the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election and is unlikely to win in 2024. However, due to the Electoral College “winner-take-all” system in many U.S. states, any third-party presidential candidate could influence an election by drawing votes away from President Biden or Trump.
With less than six months before U.S. Election Day on Nov. 5, Trump has been increasingly outspoken on crypto. In May, he announced he would accept campaign donations using digital assets and claimed to be “very positive and open-minded” about the technology. President Biden will likely have three crypto-focused bills crossing his desk before November that could influence some voters.
Magazine: Opinion: GOP crypto maxis almost as bad as Dems’ ‘anti-crypto army’