Former Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was booed more than once at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. on Friday, first just for even mentioning Donald Trump, who is speaking at the event on Saturday.
Ramaswamy, who has long claimed to be libertarian if not part of the Libertarian Party, has become even more of a Trump supporter since losing in the Republican primary than he was during it – a primary in which he and presumptive nominee Trump largely avoided criticizing one another.
When speaking to the convention crowd on Friday evening, Ramaswamy brought up Trump as he was asking whether the gathered attendees would rather be happy with getting a very small percent of the vote than having any influence on a Trump administration — and the booing began just at the mention of Trump’s name.
Ramaswamy was booed a second time when he said the only way to “save this country” is with a “libertarian-nationalist alliance.”
He did win back some cheers later in his remarks when he called for shutting down the FBI, the ATF, the CDC, the TSA, the FTC, and the Department of Education, as well as for firing “75% of the federal bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. and send them home packing.”
RAMASWAMY: The question is, do you want to get 3% or shoot for that as a stretch goal? Or do you actually want to change this country by working together? And I will tell you this. I’m speaking to you as a libertarian at my own core. I have gotten to know Donald Trump over the course of the last several years and the last several months.
(CROWD BOOING)
RAMASWAMY: And you’re going to hear from him tomorrow night. And the question is, do you want to influence the next administration or don’t you? That is the question for this room to ask. And my thesis for you… You’ll believe it — ?
RAMASWAMY: You all get to speak your mind, I respect that. Libertarians in the room got to speak up. But now the question is, how do you get it done? I believe the future of this country depends on a libertarian nationalist alliance that will save this country.
(CROWD BOOING)
RAMASWAMY: That’s what I believe is required. And my challenge to you is: How do we work together to actually restore free speech in this country?
Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.
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