Republican and Democratic Party leaders have condemned New Hampshire’s Libertarian Party for sharing a post saying that anyone who assassinated Vice President Kamala Harris would be “an American hero.”
The party later deleted the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, but appeared unrepentant about the message, saying it was removed because of the platform’s rules and complaining about restrictions on free speech.
The deleted post read: “Anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be an American hero.”
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When an X user flagged the archived post to the FBI and the Secret Service and called for an investigation, the party appeared to double down on the threat in a thread, writing, “Because saying you will violently seize guns is a threat that merits an appropriate response.”
Explaining why it deleted the post, the New Hampshire Libertarian Party, reportedly the third largest political party in the state, wrote: “We deleted a tweet because we don’t want to break the terms of this website we agreed to. It’s a shame that even on a ‘free speech’ website that libertarians cannot speak freely. Libertarians are truly the most oppressed minority.”
By then, the post had been “mass reported” to the authorities, according to one X user.
Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, said the post was “abhorrent.”
“I 100% condemn the statement from LPNH regarding Kamala Harris. It is abhorrent and should never have been posted,” he wrote on X. “As Libertarians, we condemn the use of force, whether committed by governments, individuals, or other political entities. We are dedicated to the principle of non-aggression and to peaceful solutions to conflict. This is also something we pledge as part of attaining party membership.
“LPNH’s statement should rightfully be condemned by all people.”
Republican and Democratic leaders in New Hampshire also denounced the posts in the wake of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.
“The Libertarian Party of NH encouraging the assassination of Vice President Harris must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Bucklet wrote on X, adding: “Political violence is never acceptable, and their statement was disgusting, dangerous and wrong.”
Chris Ager, New Hampshire Republican Party chair, also posted on X: “The comments by the Libertarian Party of NH suggesting an assassination of VP Harris are condemned in the strongest possible terms. There is no room for this type of dialogue. PERIOD.”
Libertarianism is popular in New Hampshire, where the so-called Free State Project in 2001 helped attract 20,000 so-called freedom-loving supporters to the state.
