After seven rounds of balloting stretching over seven hours — and coming close to nominating nobody — the Libertarian Party gave its presidential nomination to the decidedly left-leaning Chase Oliver on Sunday night in Washington DC. 

The result was a devastating upset loss for the Mises Caucus. The Rothbardian, self-described “radical libertarian” group seized control of the party in 2020, but failed to push its favored but flawed candidate — Michael Rectenwald — across the goal line. 

The Mises Caucus has unfortunately failed. We spent 4 years trying to nominate a radical to be our voice as the presidential nominee. And because they forced the most uncharismatic person I could conjure up upon us Chase Oliver is now the nominee in 2024.

Complete failure.…

— Adam (@nofunin10ded) May 27, 2024

Oliver has made national waves before: Running on the Libertarian line in the 2020 Georgia Senate election, Oliver took 2% of the vote, forcing a runoff between Democrat and eventual winner Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, the woefully unqualified endorsee of Donald “Mr Poor Personnel Picks” Trump. 

Chase Oliver: “armed and gay” flag-bearer of the Libertarian Party (Robin Rayne/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom)

Oliver, who has described himself as “armed and gay,” will be the party’s youngest-ever nominee at age 38. Among his many stances that will repel not only many libertarians but also other right-wing voters seeking a Trump alternative:

LGBT: He’s said “I’m not going to stop being a visible ally for trans people. Never.” He opposes gender transition surgeries for anyone under age 18 but has written favorably of “puberty pausing” for kids. He supports having “trans women” in girl’s sports.  
Abortion: Pro-choice, said he supports codifying Roe v Wade, but opposes federal funding of abortions. 
“Climate change”: He believes in it, but seems to favor private solutions and has strongly advocated nuclear energy  
Gun rights: Opposes new gun laws and says he’d work to repeal existing ones. 
Immigration: Wants to “radically simplify our immigration system” and “create a simpler path to citizenship.” Responded to a Ron DeSantis tweet against importing Palestinians from Gaza by quoting the Statue of Liberty inscription.  

Guess what?
I went to a Pride event featuring a Drag Queen Storytime
And there was no “grooming” or sexualization.
Just happy kids hearing a story about rainbows.

When you see something firsthand, you can see past media scare tactics.

— Chase Oliver (@ChaseForLiberty) June 25, 2022

I finally found a KF94 mask I find to be comfortable and my mask/glasses lanyard arrived so I don’t have to just stuff it in my pocket or on a table when I sit down to eat.
Yes, I wear a mask where businesses require it or where distancing is impossible. pic.twitter.com/E3pmgG2e6K

— Chase Oliver (@ChaseForLiberty) March 9, 2021

Oliver shared his intended national strategy with Politico:  

“We were looking at who are the most likely populations to be ready to go outside of the two-party system, and we’ve identified young people, and in particular those who are upset with the war going on in Gaza, upset with the immigration crisis, and upset with cost of living. Those are the young people that we’re going to target.”

Mises Caucus candidate Rectenwald picked the worst possible time to exhibit some particularly poor judgement. On the eve of the presidential balloting, he one of three candidates given an opportunity to take the stage and share his perspectives on the speech that had just been delivered by Trump.

At times, Rectenwald struggled to articulate himself, then abandoned the event midway. He later told the Washington Post‘s Meryl Kornfield that he had consumed an edible cannabis product before speaking. “This was not some sort of a major political scandal, okay,” he told her. “I wasn’t found in bed with Stormy Daniels. I’m at a Libertarian Party convention. Somebody offered me something.” And he chose to take it. It’s not clear, though, if the incident had a material effect on his candidacy, which may have been doomed by a lack of charisma. 

Chase Oliver won the LP nomination.

What on Earth were the Mises guys thinking with Rectenwald? Such a fucking waste.

— Pulse Malone (@malonepulse1) May 27, 2024

In a quirk resulting from the party’s rules and Oliver and Rectenwald’s joint failure to exceed 50% of the votes in Round Six, the final ballot pitted Oliver against “none of the above,” or “NOTA.” Had NOTA prevailed, the party wouldn’t have had a national nominee. However, most individual state parties would have been able to select their own nominee for their state ballot, reported the Post’s Kornfield, citing a ballot access expert. 

Many Libertarians were less than thrilled with Sunday’s outcome: 

Chase Oliver is the best Libertarian Party candidate for helping reelect Donald Trump.

— 🥷🦅Austin Petersen 🇺🇲🥋 (@AP4Liberty) May 27, 2024

With Chase Oliver winning the Libertarian nomination, I can confidently say that I will be voting for Donald J. Trump in November.

— Connor Daigle (@ConnorDaigleTX) May 27, 2024

So the Mises Caucus — the far-right (sane) wing of the Libertarian Party — took over the party just to nominate leftist-masquerading-as-a-libertarian Chase Oliver. LOL. Typical of Libertarian ineptitude and futility!

— Jejune the Destroyer (@of_lyon68642) May 27, 2024

Hmm maybe I’ll check out some of this Chase Oliver guy’s positions… pic.twitter.com/Ywe4Fpd86C

— Mr. Toad (@TowerGangToad) May 27, 2024

Under Libertarian Party rules, the vice presidential nominee is selected by the delegates, not by the presidential candidate. Nonetheless, Oliver’s requested running mate, Mike Ter Maat, a former police officer and loan officer, was given in the nod just before 1am ET, after two rounds of voting. He edged out Mises-backed mortgage broker, Clint Russell, who hosts the Liberty Lockdown podcast, 51% to 47%.  

Meanwhile, desperate to turn Oliver’s nomination into some kind of defeat for frontrunner Trump and potential spoiler Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the New York Times ran with a moronic headline that implied either one of them had some kind of chance to win the Libertarian crown: “Libertarians Skip Over Trump and R.F.K. Jr. for Chase Oliver.”  

There was no shortage of visceral reactions to the Libertarian convention’s outcome: 

In February 2023, I warned the LNC that they’d get Chase Oliver as their nominee unless they embraced explicitly right-wing messaging designed to alienate him and his base forever.

After seeing the LNC Board’s refusal to do what must be done, I left the party, resigning my…

— Reed Cooley (@ReedCooley) May 27, 2024

Mises Caucus just exploded like the Death Star. Chase Oliver is an open borders pro chemical castration of minors candidate and Libertarians should be EMBARRASSED they chose this clown to represent their party.

Enjoy your 3% dweebs. https://t.co/ao8A59g9vh

— Hank Venture (@HankVenture5) May 27, 2024

Chase Oliver? The @LPNational nominated Chase fucking Oliver?

The Libertarian convention got Trump and RFK Jr to come and speak and got more coverage than EVER. Then nominated Chase Oliver.

Trump is a jackass but he said it right “Maybe all you want is 3%”

So disappointing pic.twitter.com/dI6kiszGD6

— Mitch Stockton (@MitchStockton) May 27, 2024