According to media reports, the Libertarian Party has nominated Chase Oliver, a 38-year-old gay man from Atlanta, as its presidential candidate.
According to his official biography, Oliver began his political activism opposing the Iraq War under then-President George W. Bush and discovered the Libertarian Party in 2010 while visiting a booth at the Atlanta Pride Festival.
In 2020, he ran for Congress in Georgia's 5th Congressional District to fill the term of the late civil rights icon John Lewis. In 2022, he ran for the U.S. Senate, debating incumbent Senators Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker's vacant seat.
According to The Guardian, Oliver, who describes himself as a “militant gay man”, said in an interview with CNN after his nomination that he believes winning 2% of the national vote in November's general election is an achievable goal.
Former US President Donald Trump attempted to secure the party's endorsement at the convention last weekend, but was met with thunderous booing from attendees. Oliver criticized Trump's attendance at the Libertarian Party convention. At a press conference after Trump's remarks, Oliver said it was a “mistake” to have Trump speak. “Donald Trump, you are not a libertarian. You are a war criminal and you deserve the humiliation of everyone in this room,” he said.
The Libertarian Party also rejected independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of the late former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy received a warmer reception than Trump after he said he would pardon National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, who now lives in exile in Russia, and drop espionage charges against Julian Assange. But he lost in the first round on May 26, receiving only 19 votes (2% of the total votes).
CNN noted that Oliver's convention victory also marked a defeat for the Mises Caucus, a growing right-wing libertarian group.
