Trump Speaks to Rowdy Crowd at Libertarian National Convention

Former President Donald Trump spoke at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington D.C. on Saturday, drawing mixed reactions from the crowd.

The Details: In his speech Trump pledged to include a Libertarian in his cabinet and commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, who was arrested in 2013 and remains in prison for founding the online black market Silk Road.

For Context: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke to the convention on Friday and was met with a mostly positive response, per outlets like The Guardian (Lean Left bias) and Forbes (Center bias). Fox News (Right bias) noted that polls show most voters don’t want a Biden-Trump rematch and that Trump previously praised Kennedy but has since “changed his tone.” According to Fox, this weekend marked the first time a Republican or Democratic candidate accepted an invitation to speak at the convention.

The Reception: Fox News and The Hill (Center bias) described the audience as being split between cheers and boos, while Reuters (Center bias), Semafor (Lean Left bias), Washington Post (Lean Left bias), and many other outlets on the left mostly emphasized only the negative reactions to Trump’s speech. Reuters included hostile audience remarks like, “Donald Trump should have taken a bullet!”

Ross Ulbricht: Semafor referred to Ulbricht as a “drug kingpin.” Fox referred to him as “the founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road.” Reuters noted that Silk Road “allowed users to secretly buy and sell drugs.”