Chafee ends Libertarian presidential bid

By DANIEL A. KITTREDGE
Posted 4/9/20

By DANIEL KITTREDGE Lincoln Chafee has ended his bid for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination. The former Warwick mayor, U.S. senator and Rhode Island governor, now a resident of Wyoming, made the announcement via a Facebook post on Sunday. "e;I

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Chafee ends Libertarian presidential bid

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Lincoln Chafee has ended his bid for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination.

The former Warwick mayor, U.S. senator and Rhode Island governor, now a resident of Wyoming, made the announcement via a Facebook post on Sunday.

“I am still motivated by my personal experiences as an anti war candidate but accept that the timing is difficult for me as a Libertarian in 2020,” he wrote. “Thank you to supporters and volunteers, your energy, passion and smarts added to the joy of campaigning!”

Chafee officially announced his Libertarian run in January during remarks before the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., marking the latest chapter in a decades-long political career.

During the years prior to his latest venture, his partisan affiliation had shifted from Republican to unaffiliated to Democratic. He launched a short-lived run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2016.

The son of the late Republican U.S. Sen. John Chafee, he has made his 2002 vote against the resolution that authorized the war in Iraq a centerpiece of his most recent campaigns. He was the sole Republican member of the U.S. Senate to oppose that measure.

His Sunday announcement describes his experience this year on the campaign trail – which has been shaped of late by the COVID-19 crisis – and continues to tout his anti-war credentials. He wrote that he looks forward to “helping other Libertarians seek office.”

“As a new Libertarian I entered the race for the nomination for President and have met Libertarians from California to Alabama to New Hampshire,” Chafee wrote. “This adventure obviously changed with the frightening corona virus outbreak even as our campaign made a successful transfer to virtual connections via social media … I share with Libertarians many views but especially our aversion to foreign entanglements. In the eighteen years since I voted against the Iraq war I have experienced the difficulty of having intelligent discussions on American foreign policy and the use of our military overseas. It is almost a forbidden subject.”

He continued: “Others who have tried, such as Ron Paul and recently, Tulsi Gabbard I’m sure would agree. The invasion of Iraq was based on a falsehood, a falsehood supported by so many in government and the media. The ramification of this mistake is with us today as we face the Covid 19 epidemic trillions in unnecessary debt.”

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