Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson speaks at the National Libertarian Party Convention in Orlando, Fla., in May. John Raoux / AP
Libertarians Want Answers From Vets Group Over Gary Johnson Diss
The presidential candidate was not invited to a Sept. 7 forum on national security and vets issues that will feature Democrat Clinton and Republican Trump.
Libertarians want to know why a major veterans group didn’t invite their presidential candidate to appear at a Sept. 7 forum on national security and veterans issues alongside the Democratic and Republican nominees.
“Perhaps you can provide details about why you’ve chosen to exclude from your forum only one of the three candidates for president who will be on every American’s ballot,” wrote Libertarian National Committee Chairman Nicholas Sarwark, in an Aug. 29 open letter to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
IAVA is hosting a live, televised forum in New York City on Sept. 7 with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, in which the candidates will take questions on national security, military and veterans issues from NBC News and an audience of vets and service members. NBC and MSNBC will air the one-hour forum.
“On the cusp of the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, New York is a fitting stage to give voice to American veterans and service members that are all too often shut out of our political debate,” said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA founder and chief executive officer, in an Aug. 18 press release. “IAVA members worldwide, 93 percent of whom say they’ll be voting in November, and many deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, are ready to hear from the candidates and hold them accountable.”
IAVA, a nonpartisan non-profit group that advocates for post 9/11 veterans, did not invite Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson to the Sept. 7 forum. The former New Mexico governor and his supporters are putting pressure on the Commission on Presidential Debates and other organizations like IAVA to allow Johnson to participate in public debate forums with Clinton and Trump. Sixty-two percent of Americans surveyed in the latest Quinnipiac University poll said Gary Johnson should be allowed to participate in the presidential debates this fall. The Libertarian Party now has ballot access for the 2016 presidential candidate in 46 states, plus D.C., and expects to be on the ballot in all 50, according to the party’s website.
Sarwark said Johnson is “very popular with veterans” and that it was “shameful” for the IAVA to “seemingly randomly deny the veterans you purport to serve the opportunity to hear from all of their choices for commander-in-chief.” The head of the LNC said he wanted “either an invite or an explanation” from the IAVA about the lack of an invite for Johnson. “I believe a great many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are looking for the same,” he wrote.
IAVA and NBC did not immediately respond to questions about Johnson and the Sept. 7 event.