Donald J. Trump likes to talk about his successes as president, often avoiding his role in events and policies that have alienated some of his supporters. And many Republicans who were angry about his role in the Covid-19 shutdown and the rising national debt have adopted a new approach. Trump lost his memory with the hope of ousting President Biden from the White House.
But many Liberals have not forgotten. And when Mr. Trump speaks at their party convention in Washington on Saturday night, they plan to remind him.
The Libertarian Party convention, perhaps fittingly for a group devoted to individualism, is often a rowdy affair, marked by internal disputes as members make their views known.
But the party’s decision to invite Mr. Trump to give a campaign speech at an event where Libertarians will choose their own presidential candidate has caused deep anger among some members. They say it undermines the party’s integrity and gives a platform to a candidate who is, in many ways, diametrically opposed to their beliefs.
As a result, Mr. Trump, whose campaign events this year have largely taken place on friendly territory, could face a hostile crowd of Liberal voters on Saturday. Many said they intended to mock him or protest his presence.
“We anticipate a large number of party members dissatisfied with Donald Trump,” said Brian McWilliams, a spokesman for the Libertarian Party. He admitted that some of Mr. Trump’s policies fundamentally contradict the party platform and “this agency will express its dissatisfaction with those policies.”
“We hope it will be polite,” Mr. McWilliams said, “but I suspect it will be quiet.”
One potential help for Mr. Trump: The public could get tickets to his events, Mr. McWilliams said. On Saturday afternoon, red MAGA hats flooded the event space.
Central to the Libertarian Party platform is a belief in limited government and unfettered individual freedom. Libertarians tend to lean to the right on fiscal issues, opposing taxes, sweeping regulatory agencies, and government spending on defense. But they lean more liberal on social issues, such as legalizing drugs and prostitution, abolishing the death penalty, and limiting government interference in health and private life.
Some Libertarians have found common cause with Mr. Trump: The former president has frequently criticized government bureaucracy and regulations. But his imposition of tariffs, pledges to crack down on immigration and rising national debt during his administration have contradicted many of the party’s positions.
Nothing compares to the sustained outrage over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Party loyalists observe that it was under Mr. Trump’s watch that the strictest lockdowns and mask-wearing orders were imposed.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, took aim at Mr. Trump over his handling of the pandemic in his own speech to the party on Friday afternoon.
“President Trump has presided over the greatest restrictions on individual freedom this country has ever known,” Mr. Kennedy said to applause.
Recent polls show that Mr. Kennedy could attract support from both Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden in the general election. His views span many ideologies and include some points of agreement with Mr. Trump and with the Libertarian Party. But in his speech, Mr. Kennedy promoted an anti-government message and spent more time attacking Mr. Trump than Mr. Biden.
During the vote on official party proceedings on Friday, an attendee shouted, “I would like to propose that we go tell Donald Trump” to go away, using an expletive. Some in the crowd cheered in response and a profanity-laced chant tagged Mr. Trump erupted.
Speaking at the convention later on Friday, Vivek Ramaswamy, the businessman and former Republican presidential candidate who is now an outspoken supporter of Mr. Trump, was booed at least twice when he mentioned grandfather.
Trump campaign advisers say Trump’s speech on Saturday will likely highlight the overlap between his and the Liberal Party’s policies. They see Mr. Trump’s appearance as an opportunity to win over voters, who may see him as having a better chance of ousting Mr. Biden than a third-party candidate.
When asked about the negative reaction to Mr. Trump at the convention, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a statement that “The America First agenda is shares many of the concerns of Libertarian voters, and he is the only candidate who can defeat Joe Biden and end Biden’s attack on the Constitution, freedoms, and God-given rights bestowed upon us.”
Both Democrats and Republicans have sometimes argued that third-party candidates have hurt their chances in the past two presidential elections. The 2020 Libertarian Party candidate, Jo Jorgensen, won 1.2% of the national vote. In Arizona, she won by more than 50,000 votes. Mr. Trump lost to Mr. Biden in that state by just over 10,000 votes.
Some Liberal Party leaders and delegates are unhappy with the notion that Mr. Trump can win their votes. They called this weekend’s invitation a media attention ploy to undermine the integrity of the event and party.
“We appear as a prize to be won, not as something that can stand on its own,” said Richard Longstreth, a delegate from Tennessee.
And then there’s the mystery of the sticker.
The campaign of one of the party’s presidential candidates, Lars Mapstead, said it spent $20,000 on ads placed around the lobby of the Washington Hilton hotel where the convention took place, including a A large decal on the floor reads: “Reject Trump and Biden.” Victory on election night.”
Mr. Mapstead is a strong critic of Mr. Trump, especially his role in increasing the national debt. In an interview with The New York Times on Friday, he said: “We reject everything about him.”
Daniel Johnson, Mr Mapstead’s assistant, said on Thursday he was approached by a man identifying himself as a representative of the Liberal Party and demanding the ads be removed.
Mr. Johnson said he prevented the man from removing the ad after learning that he worked as an event coordinator for Mr. Trump. A video on Friday appeared to show hotel security pull the decal off the floor.
Trump’s campaign denied any involvement in the episode. A person at the Washington Hilton hotel identified as a manager said she was unaware of the ad being removed.
Mr. Mapstead blamed the Trump campaign. “It leads to that whole rigged system,” he said. “A stronger candidate can suppress a less powerful candidate.”
Mr. Trump has made a point this year of appearing at a number of events not traditionally on the schedule of a Republican presidential candidate, such as this week’s campaign rally in Deep blue Bronx.
Mr. Trump also attended a footwear conference in Philadelphia, where attendees tended to be younger and more diverse than at his typical rallies. The crowd appeared to be split between those booing and those chanting support.
“This is a slightly different audience than I’m used to, but I love this audience,” he said at the time.
