US presidential candidate Donald Trump was booed and heckled by many in a raucous audience at the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday night, a marked change from the adulation he receives at rallies from his fervently loyal supporters.
Libertarians, who believe in limited government and individual freedom, blame Trump, a Republican, for rushing through the creation of a COVID-19 vaccine when he was president and for not doing more to stop public health restrictions on the unvaccinated during the pandemic.
A smaller section of the crowd, Trump supporters, cheered him.
“Honoured to be invited here tonight as the first president in American history to address the Libertarian National Convention. A great honour…in the last year, I’ve been indicted by the government on 91 different things. So, if I wasn’t a libertarian before, I sure as hell am a libertarian now,” said Trump.
Trump, who was president between 2017 and 2021, denounced the administration of President Joe Biden, his challenger in the 5th of November election rematch, and Biden’s fellow Democrats as being part of a “rise in left-wing fascism.”
Trump was trying to appeal to libertarians, who have more in common with Republican policy positions than Democrats on issues including taxes and the size of government, in what is expected to be a closely fought election.
