Donald Trump was met with overwhelming boos on Saturday night as he begged the Libertarian Party for its 2024 nomination. According to one of his top veepstakes candidates, the negative reception was actually a sign that Trump is getting more popular.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a frontrunner to become Trump’s vice-presidential pick, appeared Sunday morning on CNN’s State of the Union, and was immediately grilled about the Libertarian National Convention ordeal.
“I saw a wave of red hats at the Libertarian convention,” the senator explained to host Dana Bash. “Donald Trump’s popularity continues to increase.”
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Scott then quickly pivoted away from the boo-fest. “He’s not just going to the Libertarian convention, he’s also doing rallies in the Bronx,” he continued, referring to Trump’s Thursday afternoon event (with its comically overstated crowd size). “He’s doing something I consider a 50-state strategy,” the senator continued. “I give him a lot of credit in going to places where Republicans have not gone before. If we’re going to win this election cycle, we must go where we’re not invited.”
The former president was invited by the Libertarian Party to deliver a primetime address at its highly eccentric election-year confab.
The Daily Beast’s Mini Racker reported from the room that as soon as he took the stage, “the former president was met with a sound he was not accustomed to: boos. They broke out as soon as he appeared, and never died down, marking one of the most negative receptions Trump has ever received.”
Trump was met with another flood of boos when he practically begged the room to give him a warmer reception, and again when he urged the Libertarian Party to nominate him for president. At one point during the evening, a group of libertarians turned around to shout down a red MAGA hat-donning group of Trump supporters chanting his name.
“I think it was a bad idea” to invite Trump to speak, libertarian activist Marta Howard told The Daily Beast before the speech. “Not all publicity is good publicity.”
