Former President Donald Trump claimed he would have “absolutely” gotten the Libertarian Party convention nomination for president, if not for already being the presumptive GOP nominee.
In a statement on Sunday, following an appearance at the party’s convention on Saturday, Trump noted the “enthusiasm” of the crowd, where he received a mixed response that included audible booing.
“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,” Trump wrote on his social media platform on Sunday,
“Regardless, I believe I will get a Majority of the Libertarian Votes,” Trump continued.
Former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
AP/Getty Images
In his message on Sunday, Trump also slammed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who received a nomination to be a candidate at the Libertarian Party convention, though ultimately was not chosen as its candidate.
“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,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “He’s not a Libertarian. Only a FOOL would vote for him!”
Kennedy, who received an 11th-hour nomination to be a presidential candidate, but didn’t manage enough votes to continue, reacted on social media on Sunday, calling the party’s move “an unexpected honor.”
“What an unexpected honor to wake up this morning to a groundswell in the Libertarian Party seeking to nominate me. I would have accepted the nomination if offered because independents and third parties need to unite right now to reclaim our country from the corrupt two-party system,” Kennedy wrote on X, saying that his speech at the convention was a “high point” of his campaign.
“While we may not agree on every downstream issue, our core values of peace, free speech, and civil liberties make us natural allies… Let’s take our country back,” he concluded.
In a post on X, he wrote that he “would have accepted the nomination if offered because independents and third parties need to unite right now.”
Kennedy has not responded to Trump’s latest attack on social media.
Both candidates had agreed to speak at the convention upon invitation from the party’s chair. Kennedy spoke on Friday, which garnered a lukewarm response from members – most of whom signaled to ABC News in interviews over the weekend that they didn’t consider Kennedy a “real Libertarian.”
Trump’s speech on Saturday was much more chaotic, with constant booing and some physical altercations with law enforcement occurring amid his short remarks focused on courting the voting block.
Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, was slated to address the convention Sunday afternoon but left without speaking after Kennedy was eliminated.
On Saturday, however, she spoke with reporters about some party members’ opposition to Kennedy being at the convention, saying, “I think there’s a great deal of possibility of success in us working together.”
Shanahan said Trump’s speech Saturday night showed a “division in this country,” claiming that Kennedy is here to “heal that divide.”
Shanahan and her partner Jacob Strumwasser were in the room at Trump’s Saturday night speech.
“It was an interesting moment to be in that room,” Shanahan said. “Very clearly, there’s clearly quite a bit of division in this country and that’s what Bobby Kennedy is here for in this moment – to heal that divide. And I think he’s the right guy for it, and I’m all in.”
