3 days Ago
A day after posting a tweet endorsing the assassination of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire took to X again Monday, saying the post was meant as a hypothetical statement. “We would never advocate for the assassination of a tyrannical President. That’s illegal.
We were merely acknowledging how some members would react to one,” someone posted on the party’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter. At 2:47 a.m.
Sunday, the party posted, “ Anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be an American hero .” The post was in response to Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, calling for Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban, which was passed in 1994 and expired in 2004. In a 366-word “official statement” on Monday, the party doubled down on its anti-government and violent rhetoric, writing, among other things, that President Abraham Lincoln was a tyrant, the party is “willing to do what must be done,” and saying, “It is morally correct to use violence to stop aggression.
” A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service said they are aware of the post.
“As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees,” U.S.
Secret Service spokesman Nate Herring said in an email. The LPNH’s post on X came on the same day as a second possible assassination attempt on Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump. The Democratic and Republican parties have both called for toning down talks of violence as the presidential race heads into its final 50 days.
Still, the New Hampshire Libertarians continued to ratchet up their talk of violence being a logical answer to what they say is government overreach. On Monday, the LPNH retweeted a post saying, “The fate Kamala Harris deserves,” from a user who reposted a picture of Meghan McCain crying over the casket of former Sen. John McCain’s coffin.
Jeremy Kauffman, who said he is the communications director for the LPNH, posted on X Monday afternoon, saying federal agents visited his home. Kauffman, who was the Libertarian nominee for U.S.
Senate in 2022, posted a video of his interaction with two men he said were from the FBI. The FBI’s field office in Boston could not be reached to confirm the men were agents. Kauffman mocked the men, swearing at them and calling them cowards.
He asked them to show their identification with their full names, but the men didn’t. “All I want to do is talk to you about a post that was made and if you happen to be the one who made the post,” said one man, who had a gun and a badge. The man then said, “We want to make sure that there weren’t any other threats.
” The two men then left abruptly, and Kauffman called them bullies and said they should be embarrassed because they know he didn’t break the law. As the men drove away in a black Dodge Durango, Kauffman gave them the middle finger. The state’s Democratic and Republican parties, as well as the national Libertarian Party, have condemned the post suggesting killing Harris would be heroic, .
Maggie Goodlander of Nashua, the Democratic nominee in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, denounced the LPNH’s tweet. “Political violence and threats of violence have no place in America. This cannot continue.
We can disagree — sometimes passionately — on issues, but civility is fundamental to our democracy,” Goodlander, a Nashua resident, said in a written statement. Chase Oliver, the national Libertarian Party’s nominee for president, released the following statement: “I 100% condemn the statement from LPNH regarding Kamala Harris. It is abhorrent and should never have been posted.
As Libertarians, we condemn the use of force, whether committed by governments, individuals, or other political entities. We are dedicated to the principle of non-aggression and to peaceful solutions to conflict. This is also something we pledge as part of attaining party membership.
LPNH’s statement should rightfully be condemned by all people.” The LPNH could not be reached by phone or email. dpierce@unionleader.
com.
