Comedian Mark Whitney withdrew yesterday from the 2020 Libertarian Party presidential race, via Facebook, and endorsed the ticket of Judge Jim Gray for president and Larry Sharpe for vice president. This comes after Whitney finished in fifth place in a straw poll after Wednesday’s Libertarian presidential debate in Kentucky.
This is the second time Whitney, a convicted felon and podcaster, has suspended his campaign. He withdrew briefly in January after claiming to have received death threats following a Libertarian presidential debate. According to IPR commenter Jim, Whitney “made an ass of himself” during the debate.
In addition, Whitney says he will start an exploratory committee to prepare for a run for U.S. Senate in California in 2022.
Whitney’s withdrawal leaves Gray, Future of Freedom Foundation president Jacob Hornberger, 1996 vice presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen, antiwar activist Adam Kokesh, former Libertarian National Committee vice chair Arvin Vohra, performance artist Vermin Supreme, software engineer Dan Behrman, former Coast Guard officer Ken Armstrong, and former Grady County (Georgia) NAACP president John Monds as the remaining candidates. Independent Congressman Justin Amash is reportedly close to announcing a run.
The Libertarian Party will nominate a candidate for president at its national convention, currently scheduled for May 21–25 in Austin. This will likely change as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The party will decide what to do about its national convention, according to paulie, at a zoom meeting May 2.
Never did figure out what anyone saw in the guy.
But I don’t see that Gray/Sharpe is any better, although the reasons are different (dumb as a box of rocks and boring as watching paint dry are two different problems).