2016 Libertarian Party presidential debates and forums

The Libertarian presidential debates were a series of political debates between the Libertarian candidates for president in the 2016 presidential election.

Presidential debates

Schedule

The following presidential candidates participated in debates: Thomas Clements, JD Donaghe, Marc Allan Feldman, Cecil Ince, Gary Johnson, Steve Kerbel, John McAfee, Kevin McCormick, Darryl W. Perry, Austin Petersen, Derrick Michael Reid, Jack Robinson, Jr., Sam Sloan, Rhett Smith, Shawna Sterling, Vermin Supreme, Joy Waymire, and Heidi Zeman. Will Coley, a vice-presidential candidate, also appeared in one presidential debate.

Debates among candidates for the 2016 Libertarian Party U.S. presidential nomination

Date	Place	Host	Participants
P  Participant, main debate.  S  Participant, secondary debate only.  A  Absent.  N  Confirmed non-invitee.  O  Out of race (exploring or suspended)			Clements	Feldman	Ince	Johnson	Kerbel	McAfee	McCormick	Perry	Petersen	Reid	Robinson	Smith	Sterling	others
October 17, 2015	Worcester, MA	Libertarian Party of Massachusetts	O	P	A	O	P	O	O	P	O	P	A	A	A	none
February 27, 2016	Biloxi, MS	Libertarian Party of Alabama Libertarian Party of Mississippi	S	P	S	P	A	P	O	P	P	S	S	S	S	none
March 5, 2016	Marietta, GA	Libertarian Party of Georgia	P	A	A	A	A	P	A	A	P	A	A	A	P	none
March 5, 2016	Sandston, VA	Libertarian Party of Virginia	A	A	A	P	A	A	A	P	A	P	P	P	A	none
March 7, 2016	Raleigh, NC Google Hangouts	Libertarian Party of North Carolina	N	N	N	P	P	P	N	P	P	N	P	N	N	none
March 11, 2016	Springfield, IL	Libertarian Party of Illinois	A	P	P	P	A	A	A	A	P	P	A	P	P	none
March 12, 2016	Colorado Springs, CO	Libertarian Party of Colorado	A	S	S	P	P	A	A	S	P	A	P	A	S	none
March 19, 2016	Philadelphia, PA	Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania	A	P	O	P	O	A	A	P	A	P	A	A	A	none
March 25, 2016	Hillsboro, OR	Libertarian Party of Oregon PAC	A	A	O	P	O	A	A	A	P	A	A	A	A	none
March 29, 2016 April 1 and 8, 2016 (air)	New York, NY	Stossel Fox Business Network	N	N	O	P	O	P	N	N	P	N	N	N	N	none
April 1, 2016	Washington, DC	Public Square, Inc.	N	P	O	N	O	N	N	P	N	N	N	N	N	none
April 2, 2016	Los Angeles, CA	Libertarian Party of California	A	P	O	P	O	P	S	A	P	S	A	S	A	Sloan Waymire Zeman
April 8, 2016	San Antonio, TX	Libertarian Party of Texas	N	P	O	P	O	P	N	N	P	N	N	N	P	none
April 9, 2016	Palm Beach, FL	Libertarian Party of Florida	A	P	O	P	O	A	A	P	P	A	A	A	A	none
April 16, 2016	Baton Rouge, LA	Libertarian Party of Louisiana	P	A	O	A	O	A	A	P	A	A	P	P	A	none
April 16, 2016	Maple Grove, MN	Libertarian Party of Minnesota	A	A	O	P	O	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	P	none
April 30, 2016	New York, NY	Libertarian Party of New York	A	S	O	P	O	P	A	P	P	S	A	A	A	Coley Supreme
May 12, 2016 (air)	Washington, DC	RT America	N	P	O	A	O	A	P	P	A	N	N	N	N	none
May 16, 2016 May 20, 2016 (air)	Las Vegas, NV	Libertarian Party of Nevada TheBlaze	N	N	O	P	O	P	N	N	P	N	N	N	N	none
May 26, 2016	Orlando, FL	Libertarian Party National Convention	S	P	O	P	O	P	S	P	P	?	?	?	S	Donaghe
May 28, 2016 (air)	Orlando, FL	Libertarian Party National Convention C-SPAN	N	P	O	P	O	P	N	P	P	N	N	N	N	none

April 1, 2016 - New York - Stossel Libertarian Forum

Main article: Stossel Libertarian presidential forum, 2016

On March 29, 2016 the Libertarian Party had its first ever nationally-televised forum. The first half of the forum aired on April 1, and the second half on April 8, both hosted by John Stossel on the Fox Business Network. The three leading Libertarian candidates were present in the debate: Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Libertarian Republican founder Austin Petersen and computer programmer John McAfee. In the second half of the debate, the candidates responded to questions given by Fox personalities and people who sent in questions via social media. In post-debate polls conducted by both Stossel and the Libertarian Party, Petersen was seen as the winner of the Libertarian forum.

May 12, 2016 - Washington, DC - RT America

On May 12, a second televised Libertarian debate was aired and hosted by RT America. It was the only live televised presidential debate for the LP. The three main candidates were invited but did not participate. Instead, Marc Allan Feldman, Darryl W. Perry and Kevin McCormick appeared in the event. The debate was moderated by Tyrel Ventura (son of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura) and Tabetha Wallace. RT America also hosted a televised debate for the Green Party three days prior.

Perry surprised the moderators during the debate when he said he wanted to end the United States federal government, going as far as to say "the United States government is the world's largest terrorist organization".

May 20, 2016 - Las Vegas - TheBlaze

On May 16, the three leading Libertarian candidates (Johnson, Petersen and McAfee) participated in a debate held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Longtime Libertarian and entertainer Penn Jillette hosted the debate, which was aired by TheBlaze cable channel on May 20. The candidates were asked questions by other celebrities, including comedians Drew Carey, Carrot Top, Jeff Ross as well as Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and The Five co-host Greg Gutfeld. The debate focused on corporate greed, the War on Drugs and the government’s use of force, both at home and abroad. “The government is, by definition, force, and there are certain things you need to do. You need to do defense, you need to do courts, you need to do police. But beyond that, I don’t know if we have to use a lot of force to decide how people make their lawns look,” Jillette said. On the issues Johnson said, “The fact that we have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, the War on Drugs is really about Black Lives Matter. With regard to our military interventions, I think that they have the unintended consequence of making things worse, not better,” Johnson said. “They’re probably fine human beings, but the two-party system takes the soul of a man or woman,” McAfee said. “That has to change. It is why we, as Americans, are so dissatisfied. Where will they turn? There’s only us.”

May 26 and 28, 2016 - Orlando - Libertarian National Convention

On May 26 and May 28, the presidential candidates debated during the Libertarian National Convention. The preliminary May 26 debate was not televised, and included three tiers. The top tier debate included candidates Feldman, Johnson, McAfee, Perry, and Petersen. Participants in the May 28 debate were determined by a token system. To be invited, a candidate had to earn the tokens of at least 10% of registered delegates. Feldman, Johnson, McAfee, Perry, and Petersen all earned enough tokens to participate in the May 28 debate. Larry Elder moderated the debate. C-SPAN televised the May 28 debate live.

The debate stirred some criticism when Gary Johnson was met with boos after saying he would've signed/voted on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Much of the Libertarian audience opposes the bill because of its contents on private discrimination.  He was also booed for supporting drivers' licences.

June 22, 2016 - New York - CNN

On June 22 CNN hosted a Libertarian primetime town hall with Libertarian nominees Gary Johnson and William Weld. It was held at CNN's headquarters, inside the Time Warner Center in New York City. The town hall was moderated by Chris Cuomo.

Vice-presidential debates

May 17, 2016 - Freedom Gulch

On May 17, Freedom Gulch hosted a Libertarian vice-presidential debate on Google Hangouts featuring the candidates: Will Coley, Alicia Dearn, Larry Sharpe, and Judd Weiss. This occurred before Gary Johnson announced William Weld as his vice-presidential pick.

May 26 and 27, 2016 - Orlando - Libertarian National Convention

On May 26 at the Libertarian National Convention, the vice-presidential candidates held a preliminary debate after the preliminary presidential debate. It was a two-tiered debate, with the top tier featuring candidates William Weld, Will Coley, Larry Sharpe, Alicia Dearn, and Judd Weiss. The next day on May 27, the vice-presidential candidates had their main debate, featuring Weld, Coley, Sharpe, and Dearn.

See also

• Libertarian Party presidential primaries, 2016
• Republican Party presidential debates and forums, 2016
• Democratic Party presidential debates and forums, 2016