Former President Donald Trump promised to either pardon or commute the sentences of a number of Jan. 6 protesters when speaking at the libertarian political conference.

The former president called it his "great honor" to pardon the "peaceful protester," saying that the moment he takes office he will create a task force to review the cases of those who have been imprisoned.

In addition to calling those who have been sent to jail over the Jan. 6 protests, Trump asserted that he would ensure that librarians would be on the task force.

Trump also made a point of calling those who are incarverated for the event, "political prisoners" and "hostages."

President Trump

I will create a special task force to pardon all of the peaceful J6 hostages.pic.twitter.com/aztqQ6Pa6Q

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 26, 2024

Response to Trump

The Libertarians who attended the conference chose Chase Oliver as their presidential contender, showing very little support for either Donald Trump or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. After receiving peaches from Trump and other candidates, as Fox News reported.

In the seventh round of voting, Oliver was able to secure the nomination, having previously finished in second place for the first five rounds of voting.

His final opponent was the "none of the above" choice, and he received nearly sixty percent of the vote in the final round, finally surpassing the fifty percent threshold that was required for victory.

Failure to Launch

The former president failed to meet the eligibility requirements for the Libertarian nomination, and in the first round of write-in ballots on Sunday, he received only six.

Oliver stated on Saturday, following Trump's address at the convention, "I don't like having a war criminal on this stage."

On Friday, Kennedy, an independent presidential candidate who had previously vowed the Libertarian nomination, addressed the convention to a more receptive audience. In doing so, he criticized the management of the COVID-19 pandemic by both President Biden and Trump.

He expressed his support for the Libertarians and stated that obtaining ballot access in all fifty states could have been facilitated with an endorsement.

Other Contenders

Professor-turned-podcaster Michael Rectenwald was the final contestant to challenge Oliver. He was ousted in the sixth round after leading in each of the previous five rounds. Rectenwald was the last candidate to confront Oliver.

Due to the fact that candidate Mike ter Maat was eliminated in the fifth round and endorsed Oliver in exchange for being named his vice presidential choice, Oliver was able to defeat Rectenwald in the final two rounds of the election.

"I will continue to bring a hopeful and positive message of liberty to both those who consider themselves libertarian and those who don't know they are libertarian yet," Oliver said in his victory speech.