SUBMITTED PHOTO/Avens O'Brien

By Thomas L. Knapp

Thomas L. Knapp is a director and senior news analyst at The William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism, where this was first published. He lives in north central Florida.

In early May, the Libertarian Partys National Committee announced a prominent speaker at the partys convention over Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C: former U.S. president Donald Trump.

A few days later, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a post on X, issued a challenge:

Were both going to be speaking at the upcoming Libertarian convention on May 24 and 25. Its perfect neutral territory for you and me to have a debate where you can defend your record for your wavering supporters.

The party hasnt publicly confirmed any invitation (offered or accepted) to Kennedy, but maybe thats coming.

Im not going to argue here, anyway over the wisdom of a political party inviting two of its most prominent opponents to use its national convention as a campaign rally location or debate venue.

I do, however, want all you voters out there to know three things about this things that the media coverage seems to either leave unmentioned or gloss over:

Weve got a pretty big field of announced candidates for that presidential nomination.

Neither Trump nor Kennedy have declared for that nomination (in fact, after flirting with doing so, Kennedy publicly rejected the idea).

Neither Trump nor Kennedy are eligible for that nomination or at least they wont be if they address the convention prior to the nominee being selected. According to the Libertarian National Committees policy manual:

No person shall be scheduled as a convention speaker unless that person has signed this statement: As a condition of my being scheduled to speak, I agree to neither seek nor accept nomination for any office to be selected by delegates at the upcoming Libertarian Party convention if the voting for that office occurs after my speech.

Since we havent selected our nominee yet, Im not going to sing his or her praises to you or try to convince you to vote Libertarian. I just dont want you to be surprised when you look at your ballot in November and dont see the name Trump or Kennedy next to the name Libertarian Party.

Between now and November, I hope youll take time to familiarize yourself with Libertarian ideas and with the Libertarian Partys candidates for office across the U.S. They deserve your attention and consideration.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.

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Knapp: No, Trump and Kennedy aren't Libertarian candidates - Bay to Bay News