Well, that’s an odd strategy.
Trying — and arguably failing — to give a speech to the Libertarian National Convention this weekend, former President Donald Trump started insulting the audience as they relentlessly booed him. He derisively referenced the party’s record in presidential elections, which generally sees the Libertarians with single-digit shares of the national popular vote and no electoral votes awarded to their nominees for the presidency. Trump had been trying to win Libertarians to his side.
“Maybe you don’t wanna win,” Trump complained as the boos continued. “Maybe you don’t wanna win. […] Keep getting your three percent every four years.”
It does seem like insulting your audience isn’t the best way to secure their support. The boos continued to the end of his speech, when the Biden campaign recapped that the former president was “practically booed off stage.”
Also a factor in the presidential race is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a nephew of the former president who shares his last name. Kennedy is running as an independent after a brief run in the Democratic primary, and precedent suggests that impacts from his campaign will be limited to that of a spoiler, considering the consistently low results for presidential candidates outside of the major parties in the most recent elections. The Biden and Trump campaigns have agreed to a pre-election series of debates that will not include Kennedy. The face-offs will take place outside the auspices of the traditionally used Commission on Presidential Debates, and the first is actually next month!
