The Coming Libertarian Retribution Against Donald Trump
Years of mistreating libertarians may have cost Trump the keys to the White House
I’m sure many people by now have seen the videos of the former U.S. President Donald Trump receiving special treatment from libertarians during a speech at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, May 26th.
“Donald Trump, the former US president, has suffered the rare humiliation of getting booed and heckled during a raucous speech to the Libertarian National Convention.
Trump’s rocky ride at a Washington hotel on Saturday night, including cries of “Bullshit!” and “Fuck you!”, underlined the challenge that the Republican presidential nominee faces to broaden his appeal both left and right on the political spectrum.”
At the Libertarian National Convention held on Sunday, former U.S. President Donald Trump faced the toughest and meanest crowd he had ever faced in recent months. As he took the stage, he was repeatedly booed by die-hard libertarians in the audience who prioritize small government and individual freedoms. In recent years, especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic they have often been skeptical of Trump’s lockdown policies and expanding of the government.
During his speech, Trump tried to make light of the situation by referring to the four criminal indictments against him and jokingly saying, “If I wasn’t a Libertarian before, I sure as hell am a Libertarian now.” However, the insults continued, and some in the audience even shouted back at him. Despite the raucous atmosphere, Trump pressed on, pledging to include a Libertarian in his Cabinet. The convention, which wrapped up on Sunday, also featured independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose candidacy has raised concerns among both Biden and Trump supporters.
The recent humiliation of Donald Trump at the Libertarian National Convention serves as the culmination of years of Trump’s ill treatment of libertarians, particularly within the Republican political landscape. Since assuming office in 2017, he systematically marginalized libertarians within the conservative movement and shunned donors, figures, politicians who opposed his policies.
However, fast-forward to the present day, and Trump finds himself in dire need of the libertarians’ support. Despite this, libertarians remain unswayed by his grievance-driven style of politics, populist rhetoric, and his previous opposition to limited government which is still a live memory to them.
Below, I attempt to summarize the relationship between Donald Trump and libertarians since 2017 in bullet points.
Additionally, I discuss how the rejection of Trumpism may significantly impact the former president’s prospects in the upcoming election on November 5th.
The rise of Trumpism in 2016 catastrophically affected the balance of power between conservative camps that had existed since the Reagan Era
When Donald Trump’s brand of politics emerged as the most dominant and forceful within GOP politics after the 2016 election, the conservative movement still maintained an uneasy but functional balance between libertarians, traditionalists, and neoconservatives.
However, as he gradually integrated himself into the Republican party, he upset the delicate power equilibrium that had governed the conservative movement since the Reagan era.
In the run-up to the 2016 Republican National Convention, there was significant confusion and disillusion among the neocons and libertarians who opposed the prospect of Trump’s conquest of the conservative movement. They believed it would not only destabilize the Republican political landscape but also help the Democrats become united and consolidate unity in the face of Trump’s polarizing populism.
The National Review magazine, the philosophical and intellectual homebase of the American conservative movement not only refused to endorse Donald Trump in 2016, but urged the Republicans- without any success- to reject his candidacy and his rising influence in the conservative politics.
To nobody’s surprise, Donald Trump emerged victorious despite significant resistance from intellectual conservatives. The National Review, despite embarking on a costly mutiny against the real estate mogul turned presidential candidate, only managed to rally a small but influential band of anti-Trump Republican activists, who became known as the “Never-Trumpers”
Trump’s conquest of the Republican Party signified the arrival of a new era of vengeful right-wing politics predominantly influenced by populism. It is led by a New York businessman and former casino owner with no prior experience in holding public office, but one driven by an ego the size of the Trump Tower in downtown Manhattan.
Neocons: The First Political Casualty of Trumpism on the Right
The first casualty of Trump’s forced entry into conservative politics was the neoconservatives, whom he rightly criticized and booted out of the movement for reasons he may or may not have entirely understood.
Nevertheless, the neoconservatives were the first conservative camp to be publicly humiliated and ejected from the American right, beginning in 2016.
By targeting the influential, well-connected but highly uncharismatic and aloof neoconservatives, Trump detached the GOP from the intellectual managers who had governed the party’s intellectual aspect for decades.
Indeed, they never saw it coming, but the rise of Trump and his control over the spirit and substance of the party meant that there was only room for one dominating faction at the top of the GOP food chain. Trump emerged victorious, leading to the neoconservatives closing shop overnight for good.
Libertarians Join Neocons as the Second Political Casualty of Trumpism
During the 2016 election, the rise of Trumpism within the Republican Party was met with deep skepticism by libertarians and the infamous Koch network, whose “Dark Money” influence on the American political landscape has been well-documented by The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer.
Trump’s populist and protectionist stance clashed with libertarian principles of limited government intervention and free markets. Many libertarians viewed Trump’s ‘America First’ economic nationalist influence as detrimental to their core values of free trade and tax cuts.
However, it was Trump’s tariff policies, particularly during the summer of 2018, that intensified the rift. The Koch brothers, influential libertarian figures, openly criticized Trump’s protectionist trade measures, arguing that they harmed the U.S. economy rather than benefiting it. This clash ultimately fueled animosity between libertarians and Trump, highlighting the ideological tensions within the party.
The Curious Case of Traditionalists Who Support Trump
The remaining camp, the traditionalist (and Evangelicals broadly-speaking as social conservatives) upon seeing how terrible and damaging it is to be at the receiving end of Trumpism tried to appease him to a varying degree and in a variety of ways.
Traditionalist conservatives, distinct from libertarians and neoconservatives, found common ground with Trump and his policies. Their support was rooted in a desire to revive traditional values within American society and politics. Trump’s stance on issues like immigration, culture wars, and attacks on the perceived liberal excesses resonated with this group.
Christian evangelicals, who prioritize social and moral conservatism, also rallied behind Trump. They saw him as a champion for religious freedom and pro-life causes. Together, traditionalists and evangelicals formed a strong base of support for Trumpism, driven by their shared goal of reinvigorating traditional norms and values.
Libertarians Get Back at Trump in a shocking turn of events!
At their recent convention, libertarians made a bold statement by loudly booing and humiliating the Republican frontrunner. Their actions underscored their unequivocal rejection of his policies, which have eroded their traditional standing within the GOP since 2018.
Notably, the recent closure of “Freedom Works,” a once-influential libertarian organization that played a pivotal role in the Tea Party movement of the past decade, reflects the changing political landscape. Financial difficulties and the rise of Trumpism have effectively extinguished libertarians’ political influence on the right.
Now, with Trump facing legal battles and political challenges, they seek retribution in as many ways they can.
More recently, libertarians have acknowledged that due to the rise of populism, authoritarianism, and right-wing insurgency (another term for Trumpism), there is no longer a place for them in the conservative movement.
The libertarians appear to have reached a breaking point. They are equally frustrated with both the Democrats and the GOP for a series of foreign and domestic policy reasons. Congressional libertarians, in particular, oppose the Biden administration’s foreign aid package on principle, viewing it as a squandering of U.S. taxpayers’ money.
Now, as the contest between Trump and Biden nears its conclusion, and public opinion of both men changes almost every week due to the avalanche of crises regularly hitting America so close to the election day, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump need to secure as many votes as possible in the lead-up to November 5th.
That being said, for Donald Trump the prospects of attracting even a fraction of the libertarian vote is increasingly becoming dimmer by the week.
As a politician without any particularly strong penchant for political craftsmanship, Donald Trump spent years bashing, humiliating, and ejecting libertarians from the right. Now, it is high time for libertarians to retaliate against Trump for orchestrating their demise from GOP politics during his time in power.
