Libertarian Party chairwoman rips Trump indictment

The chairwoman of the Libertarian National Committee criticized former President Trump’s indictment on charges he attempted to overturn the 2020 election, saying statements doubting election results are not uncommon.

“Many past candidates, including presidential nominee Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton who, in 2016, called Trump an ‘illegitimate President’ who ‘stole the election,’ have routinely refused to concede elections and forced tedious recounts involving Supreme Court decisions,” Angela McArdle said in a Wednesday statement.

The four-count indictment handed down by federal prosecutors Tuesday alleges Trump and those around him schemed for months to use fraudulent electoral college votes to overturn the result of the 2020 election and spread false claims that the election results were unfair or rigged.

In 2019, Clinton called Trump an “illegitimate president” in reference to allegations his campaign and the Republican Party used voter suppression tactics and online misinformation to win the 2016 election.

Gore refused to concede the 2000 election after Election Day due to a narrow procedural challenge of voting results in Florida but finally conceded after the Supreme Court ruled against him in a split decision.

Neither Clinton nor Gore claimed their opponent directly rigged their elections or that voting results were systematically fraudulent, as Trump and his allies did after the 2020 election.

McArdle also criticized the Justice Department, saying it is pushing charges on Trump to run defense for President Biden. 

“The people bringing these indictments seek to play kingmaker outside of the electoral process, knocking their opponents out of races in the most depraved and unscrupulous way possible,” she said.

“Unless Trump took clearly illegal action, fighting to win an election isn’t a crime. What a stark contrast to the way President Biden is being treated right now regarding the accusations leveled against him with Burisma Holdings.”

Investigations into Biden and his family are ongoing in the House, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the probes could be “rising to the level of impeachment inquiry.”

The Tuesday indictment is Trump’s third after a New York state business filings case and a second federal case into alleged mishandling of classified documents.

A similar Georgia investigation into Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election in that state is expected to conclude in the coming weeks, adding the potential of a fourth indictment.

The Libertarian Party will select its candidate for the 2024 presidential election at its convention in May.