WASHINGTON — Hours after former President Donald Trump asked libertarians for their party’s nomination and votes, the party chair said he did not submit the appropriate paperwork.
“I also learned that Mr. Trump did not turn in any nominating papers,” Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle announced to the delegates Sunday. “But he was nominated, and it’s nice to be nominated.”
Moments earlier, the crowd at the Libertarian National Convention jeered the man nominating Trump for consideration.
“I would like to nominate the greatest president of our time, Donald J. Trump,” the libertarian said as the crowd of delegates booed loudly in response.
Another man made his way to a microphone to argue that Trump did not qualify for nomination, which the crowd responded to with applause and a partial standing ovation.
Reached for comment, a Trump campaign spokesperson pointed to Trump’s post on Truth Social.
“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 said in the post.
The Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to a request to clarify party rules.
The audience heckled Trump throughout his speech Saturday night, at times lobbing curses and insults. Certain sections of his remarks, such as his statement that he began no new wars during his term in office, were met with applause.
Trump asked multiple times for the audience to nominate him or vote for him. The audience, however, was consistently hostile to him, especially when he suggested they support him.
“I think you should nominate me or at least vote for me,” Trump said Saturday evening. The crowd booed.
There is a history of the Conservative Party of New York’s nominating Trump in 2016 and in 2020 while he maintained his GOP nomination. Trump was not the Libertarian nominee in 2016 or 2020.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request to clarify Trump’s previous dual nominations in New York.
