Dr. Mark Thornton, a Mises Senior Fellow, was interviewed by The Daily Caller about the political positions off Libertarian Gary Johnson’s 2016 campaign:
Critics point to the fact that during his tenure as Governor of New Mexico (1995-2003), he increased the debt from $2.7 billion to $3.9 billion, according to Reason.
“Increasing government debt is not Libertarian,” Dr. Mark Thornton, Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an email....
Johnson also claims that Libertarian philosophy is “fiscally conservative and socially liberal,” but Thornton says that falls short of actual libertarianism.
“You have to remember that Johnson and Weld are Republicans flying the Libertarian banner,” Thornton says. “They are fiscally conservative and socially liberal for Republicans which is great, but they fall short of Libertarian. They are both good status quo managers....”
One of the more outrageous positions Johnson has advocated for, was to ban burqas, something many feel stands in direct contrast to the personal liberty and self-determination components of the Libertarian platform. Johnson did retract the burqa statement.
“Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves,” the Libertarian platform reads on their website. “No individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Thornton exclaimed....
On foreign policy, Johnson lacks the punch most Libertarians crave. Johnson On UN membership, Johnson said the U.S. should “maintain a presence at the United Nations,” but advocates for a reduced role.
“Libertarians do not approve of the U.N. — they fear the U.N.,” said Thornton of the remark.
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