Libertarian Party presidential nominee Chase Oliver joins "Forbes Newsroom" to react to last week's historic presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis with Forbes Breaking News. Joining me now is Libertarian
00:06Party presidential nominee Chase Oliver. Chase, thank you so much for joining me.
00:10Thanks for having me. It's always great to speak with Forbes.
00:13There was a huge historic debate last week between President Joe Biden
00:19and former President Donald Trump. Let's just get right into it.
00:22What are your takeaways? What's your reaction?
00:25Well, my takeaways is that Donald Trump did what Donald Trump always does,
00:28which is exaggerate, be hyperbolic, and frankly, many times lie on the record.
00:33And we had Joe Biden, who was just not in a position to be able to counter that at all.
00:37In fact, Joe Biden was falling even below the low expectations that many Republicans
00:42had for him going into the debate. And so I feel like, you know, like most Americans, I think
00:46it was not Joe Biden's night. It was not a great debate for him. And it really shook up the race
00:52because now a lot of people are looking at me as a younger candidate, and they're really excited
00:56about seeing somebody who's not 80 years old. You bring up an interesting point of a lot of
01:00people said it wasn't Joe Biden's night. But do you think that this could be chalked up to a bad
01:06bad debate or something more serious, where we saw his mental acuity on full display on Thursday?
01:12Oh, I think it is just a full example of the emperor having no clothes that so many of the
01:16advisors around Joe Biden were like, Oh, no, he's so sharp behind the scenes. He's so great, but
01:20don't pay any attention to what you're seeing in public. You know, he's great from 10am to 4pm.
01:25Frankly, we need a president who can be on duty 24 hours a day. You know, I work early mornings,
01:29late nights campaigning, and I have the energy and vigor to keep doing that. And I think what
01:34we saw in the debate is a is indicative of Joe Biden, and that the fact that he is not the Joe
01:39Biden he was four years ago, eight years ago, if you just look at differences between, say,
01:43his 2012 vice presidential debate, and his debate tonight, it is like two completely different
01:48candidates, or debate less, rather. Yeah. And we saw that on social media,
01:53many clips were floating from his debate in 2012. Against Paul Ryan, there were other debates to
01:59where there was there was a visible difference there. And Democrats have really said and have
02:05pinned themselves as the party that is trying to save democracy. And then a lot of voters,
02:11Democratic voters felt disenfranchised, and really gaslit and lied to when they saw that debate on
02:16Thursday. So how do you how are you trying to win those voters over to vote libertarian?
02:22Well, first off, we want to know that we respect those voters, their voices and their values,
02:26unlike the Democratic Party, who didn't even really have a primary process for those voters
02:30to voice their dissatisfaction or to find another candidate to support. And I want to tell those
02:34voters that I'm somebody that you don't have to agree with me 100% of the time, but I'm gonna be
02:38straight with you. I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna BS you about my mental acuity or the
02:44fact that Oh, he's just so sharp on, we don't need to do that. Because I'm in the age of 40. I'm
02:48working age. I'm somebody who goes to, you know, who regularly gets up goes to work every single
02:52day. I you know, I have to juggle my entire life all the time. You know, I'm the guy who gets like
02:56five or six hours of sleep a night if that, you know, on a good night, and yet I can still keep
03:01going. And so that's something that I hope voters can see that I'm somebody who is pro choice. And
03:06certainly if I had been on that debate stage, I could have defended the pro choice position far
03:09better than Donald than Joe Biden did against Donald Trump. There have been a lot of calls
03:14for Joe Biden to step down, step aside. Do you echo those calls? Well, you know, I think he's
03:20probably an easier candidate to run against, honestly. So for me, strategically, he should
03:25probably want to stay in there. But I think Democrats right now are very worried. And I
03:28think the likelihood of seeing a brokered convention where they're selecting their
03:31delegate on the floor, or their candidate on the floor from the delegates rather,
03:35is it's going up, you know, I would have said before the debate, it's like a 90% chance Joe
03:40Biden is going to be the nominee, you know, barring some sort of health complication. Now,
03:44I think that's close to like a 5050 chance. I think Democrats are running scared. They're
03:48looking for options. And that could lead to a very interesting convention. But I just don't
03:52know if there's enough time for any candidate who gets nominated in August to really lay down
03:57the groundwork and have that effective kind of campaign. This debate was really interesting in
04:02the sense that what we're talking about days after even moments after was not what was said,
04:07but how it was said. And earlier at the beginning of this conversation, you said that you took issue
04:12with some of President Trump's points. What were they? What policy disagreements
04:17do you have if you were on that stage that you would have brought up?
04:20Well, like some of the things he said when he said, you know, states just allow you to abort
04:24a fetus at the ninth month. That's just not true anywhere in the country. You have to get you know,
04:27there has to be a doctor's exemption essentially for that. That's not something that happens
04:31willy nilly. And he is making it seem like this is something that happens all the time.
04:34When in truth, late term abortions are less than 1% of abortions. And it's done through
04:38medical necessity. And that should be between a woman and their doctor. Joe Biden couldn't defend
04:42that point. He couldn't fight back against that. When it comes to some of the things he said about
04:45the border, it is ridiculous. Most people who want to come here want to come here to work and work
04:49peacefully and live peacefully and create their own economic output and their own economic future
04:53here in the United States. They're not coming here just to attack Americans or, you know,
04:58increase crime. In fact, if you look at studies, immigrants, both illegal and those who came here
05:02through legal means, both of them commit less crime than native born Americans. So it's just
05:06not true when he says we're exporting crime into our streets because we have open borders. You know,
05:11so much of the rhetoric he says is just so hyperbolic. But if there's not somebody there to
05:14respond to it in real time, voters will look at that and say, OK, nobody's fighting back against
05:19it. The moderators aren't pushing back. The other candidates not pushing back. So it must be true.
05:23But so much of the things he says are either hyperbolic or just a straight up lie. And he's
05:28a dishonest person. This is why I think voters need to have more than two choices. You shouldn't
05:31have an angry, dishonest old man or a tired and, you know, and kind of sundowning old man to choose
05:37from. You should be able to have younger voices. And I hope voters voice their dissatisfaction by
05:42voting for the only candidate under the age of 40. I think some people have been a little bit
05:46afraid until Thursday night of calling out an issue of age for fear of being ageist.
05:54Do you think there should be an age limit here when it comes to being president?
05:58Well, you know, to do so would require a constitutional amendment. But, you know,
06:01our neighbors to the north in Canada, they have an age limit for their
06:05Senate and for their Supreme Court of 75 years. I don't think that's irresponsible to do that.
06:10You know, I think there comes a time when, you know, our policymakers should be those who are
06:14going to be young enough to see their policies carry out over the next couple of decades,
06:17most likely. And that gives you vision beyond just the next financial quarter or the next two years
06:22or the next term. That gives you forward thinking vision about what world do I want to live in in
06:2620 years. So having younger leadership certainly brings that vision to the forefront. And I think
06:30we need more of it in Congress. The people who are running Congress today are the people who
06:33are running Congress when I was in high school, for the most part.
06:37And would you want to debate Donald Trump? Should you get that opportunity or even Joe Biden, too?
06:44Oh, absolutely. One hundred percent. You know, Donald Trump came and spoke at our convention.
06:47I wish he had had the gravitas and the the spine to actually debate our candidates
06:51and come to us, you know, you know, ready to speak to his vision and compare that to
06:56libertarian vision. And certainly if I'm on a debate stage with Donald Trump or Joe Biden,
07:00I'm going to take it to them. One hundred percent. No excuses. No apologies. I'm ready
07:04to do that right here, right now. And of course, I'm going to be at the free and equal debate next
07:08month in Las Vegas. They are both invited to participate. So is Robert Kennedy, Jr. But so
07:13far, only the Green Party and the Constitution Party have joined the Libertarian Party and
07:18participating in a debate that will be open for any of the major candidates.
07:23As you know, age and mental acuity has been a huge question this election season. And when
07:29both Biden and Trump were answering that question, the conversation really devolved
07:33into who has a better golf handicap than the other. As an American, what did you make of that exchange?
07:40Well, you know, what I made of it is it's two men who are just really they dislike each other so
07:44much that they're willing to just get right into the petty arguments of, say, a golf game. And,
07:47you know, frankly, to me, it's kind of insulting that these two men are arguing about their golf
07:50game because this country has so many problems going on, so many things that require the
07:55attention of a president that for them to be arguing, they both play too much golf, frankly.
08:00I think presidents take too much time off to go play golf that Obama did it to. Like for me,
08:06I would rather see somebody working on the weekends and I'm ready to do that. I'm ready
08:08to work seven days a week for the American people. By the way, I've never played golf
08:12because, you know, I'm not somebody who regularly gets out of the golf course. I go to work and,
08:16you know, I it's not really my game. That's kind of a more of a latest game for me.
08:20So let's take President Biden's performance out of the debate and let's just talk about what was
08:26said, the substance of the debate. What do you think was missing that you thought, hey,
08:31I could offer my perspective on here? I could offer a fresh take.
08:36Well, you know, I think they both kind of hammered each other for the debts and deficits
08:39they create. But someone should have been on stage to say both of you guys actually have created,
08:43you know, nearly half of the national debt that we're seeing is from each of you and your eight
08:49year terms. So you're both really guilty of that. And neither candidate, while speaking about the
08:53Israel-Gaza war, spoke up for the Palestinians, those tens of thousands of innocent people who
08:58have been bombed and airstriked in Gaza, when Israel could have taken a much more surgical
09:02path to respond to the October 7th attacks. And I think had they done that, they wouldn't be seeing
09:06this massive backlash and these protests around the world against the actions they're taking
09:10against Hamas because so many Palestinians get caught in the crossfire as innocent people who
09:16are being, you know, frankly, blown up by this war, murdered, maimed, injured, traumatized,
09:22and no one was there to speak up for them. No one was there to speak up for those innocent people.
09:27You know, I speak up for both the innocent people of Palestine and the innocent people of Israel
09:31who faced a terror attack on October 7th. I want to see a release of the hostages and a ceasefire
09:36so we can begin rebuilding Gaza and seeing a better life for the Palestinians. Nobody took
09:40that fully nuanced approach. It was very one sided. President Trump blamed President Biden
09:46for what we're seeing in the Middle East. Did you agree with his take there?
09:51No, I don't agree with his take there. I think October 7th was going, you know,
09:55was going to happen regardless of which of these men were president, because frankly,
09:59you know, I don't see a whole lot of daylight between them. Both have used, you know, both
10:03have exported our militarism around the world. Both have a foreign policy that is rooted in the
10:08American military footprint, whether it's selling weapons or arms to Israel or Saudi Arabia.
10:13You know, both of them use that military industrial complex power as opposed to diplomacy
10:18and actually engaging with our neighbors one on one, which is something we want to see more.
10:23On the debate stage and something that you've posted on social media, the biggest contrast
10:27that we're seeing between both President Trump and President Biden and you is the age gap.
10:33They're only a few years apart. You are drastically younger. Aside from the age difference,
10:38what else do you think is the biggest difference between you and both Biden and Trump?
10:43Well, it's my political philosophy and where the root of what I believe comes from,
10:46which is the principle of non-aggression, that if you're not harming anybody in your own personal
10:50life, your life should be your life. Your body should be your body. Your business is your
10:54business. And that's because we believe in the most local governance as libertarians. And that's
10:57actually your self-governance, that if you're governing yourself and not harming the civil
11:00liberties of other people, you should be left to your own devices to decide what you want to do
11:05with your life. And when you come from that kind of philosophical point of truly thinking about
11:09the liberty of each and every person, as opposed to the authoritarianism on the left or the right,
11:13be you Biden or be you Trump, that is a stark contrast in political philosophy as to where
11:17our beliefs come from, where we're rooted in, in terms of our principles. There could be not a
11:22starker difference between a libertarian like myself and an authoritarian Republican and
11:26authoritarian Democrat like Donald Trump and Joe Biden, who view the state as the solution.
11:31In the wake of President Biden's debate performance, a Republican member of Congress,
11:35Chip Roy, called on Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment.
11:40Is that something you agree with? Do you think his performance is worthy of that call?
11:47You know, I don't know. And I think Chip Roy is doing something quite performative. In fact,
11:52I hardly endorse Chip Roy's libertarian opponent in his race. So I just met with some great folks
11:58in Texas last night, in fact, out there in San Antonio. And, you know, I got to say,
12:03while I think maybe that discussion has to happen, I think it's more a matter of he just
12:06doesn't need to run another term. You know, I think he's realizing that four more years is just
12:10not in the cards for him. Do I think Biden can continue to be doing what he's doing for the last
12:14four years for a few more months? Yeah, I think he can, because I think he's got certainly handlers
12:19around him and other people who have been helping him along. But I don't think he needs to run
12:23again in 2024. I do think it's time for him to maybe step aside for a younger Democrat or for
12:28a Democrat who's just got more vigor. You know, you don't have to be younger. You just have to
12:31have it. You have to be able to be all there. And Joe Biden's just not showing that.
12:37Chase, you are crisscrossing across the country. What's next for your campaign?
12:42Well, next up is July 4th in Philadelphia. We're going to be celebrating with the
12:46Pennsylvania libertarians out there in Philadelphia and Bucks County. And then
12:50I'm heading to New Jersey. And then in a little bit, we're going to be,
12:53like I said earlier, in Las Vegas for the Freedom Fest, free and equal debates.
12:58Myself, Jill Stein of the Green Party, Randall Terry of the Constitution Party are all
13:01confirmed to appear. And again, RFK Jr., you can debate us. The real debate is in Las Vegas. If
13:06you really want to see the real debate, debate actual people, not just be on stage by yourself.
13:10And Donald Trump and Joe Biden, if you really want to show that you can hang with these other
13:14candidates, with these other parties, you're invited to Las Vegas. Come on out. You know,
13:18the water's fine. It's a great time. Come and join us in Las Vegas. But until then,
13:23I'm going to keep speaking for the American people. I'm going to keep traveling across the country
13:27and not being afraid to get on any stage that'll have me debating my opponents and
13:31certainly taking it to the two-party system.
13:34Chase Oliver, thank you so much for coming on. I always appreciate the conversation.
13:38Thank you so much.