The Libertarian Party is Not Ready for Primetime

The party's shameful attack on Nina Turner proves that they are not serious about attracting voters

Today, there are more people in America that are dissatisfied with their political options than at any time in modern history. It appears that we are headed towards a 2024 rematch between President Biden and former President Trump: a matchup that Americans say they do not want. Trump is unpopular, Biden is more unpopular and Vice President Kamala Harris’s popularity is even worse than Biden’s is. The time could be right for another option. But instead of capitalizing on that opportunity, the Libertarian Party (the nation’s so called “third largest political party”) wets the bed again.

On Wednesday, former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner called for insulin to be free in America. Now, one can agree or disagree with that policy suggestion and engage with the former Senator on the merits. Instead, the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire took to Twitter and used its notoriously racist and cruel account to call for Sen. Turner to “pick crops for free”.

They were intentionally using racist language to compare the idea of providing free insulin to the horrors of chattel slavery. They would argue that both are slavery. When Sen. Turner called out that ridiculous argument for its blatant racism, they doubled down on it. The racism of the LPNH has always been explained away by “mainstream” Libertarians as an outlier, the crazy cousin in the Libertarian Party. But this controversy proved that the bigoted sentiments might be more widespread than they realize. The Arizona Libertarian Party jumped in and doubled down on stupid. Libertarian influencers defended it (and chased away Libertarian leaning people while doing so), and then the national Libertarian Party’s Twitter account got in on the action. They retweeted a racially insensitive tweet and also co-signed the idea of free insulin being tantamount to slavery.

To be fair, there were several prominent Black Libertarians (like Maj Toure and Jeff Charles) who publicly condemned the blatant racism coming from the Libertarian political establishment. But the events still raise an important question: is the Libertarian Party ready for prime time?

The idea that free insulin is in any way an equivalent to chattel slavery is ridiculous on its face. First, Sen. Turner never claimed that the producers of the product wouldn’t be compensated for their work. She wants the government to purchase it and give it away. Whether you agree or disagree with that policy idea, that is not slavery. The horrors of the institution of slavery, from the beatings to the rapes to the lynchings to the idea that human beings could be property, should not be taken lightly. Far too many people of all ideologies use that history as a political football. To deploy that tactic in a standard political debate (against a black woman, no less) is shameful.

I have criticized both Democrats and Republicans when I believe that they do not show the proper respect to Black Americans, the second largest minority group in the country. Both major parties owe more to Black Americans than what they are currently delivering. But when it comes to Black outreach, with a handful of exceptions, the Libertarian Party is worse than the Democrats or the Republicans.

With that being said I do understand the concern that many people have with the current political system. It’s hard to pretend that the system is currently working for the American people. By this time next year we will likely be choosing between a former President under federal indictment (rightly or wrongly, depending on your political views) and a current President who is highly likely to have been impeached by that point (rightly or wrongly, depending on your political views). But if the Libertarians are ever going to become a real option for American voters, they have to become a serious party. No more trolling on Twitter, no more intentional alienation of the voters that you need, no more casual racism, no more irrelevant comparisons to slavery.

I believe that the very nature of the Libertarian political philosophy prevents them from being able to govern on a large scale, but prove me wrong. The voters want more options. Give it to them. Or, you can trend nationwide on Twitter for making racist comments to a black former elected official. Your choice.

Darvio Morrow is the CEO of First Class Broadcasting (FCB) and co-host of The Outlaws Radio Show