Recently, the conservative writer Matt Lewis wrote a piece for the Daily Beast called "The Insidious Libertarian-to-Alt-Right Pipeline." The piece included the tagline, "Is it just a phase they go through—or is there something about libertarianism that attracts, well, uh, you know, racist kooks?"
Lewis explored how he thinks libertarianism is a gateway drug to the alt-right for some Americans. Is he right? What do libertarians think? What are the connections between libertarianism and the alt-right? Is Lewis simply misunderstanding? Our guests discuss these questions and more. In studio:
- Phil Ricci, founding chair of the Genesee County Libertarian Party and former communications director for Gary Johnson's campaign in New York
- Larry Sharpe, libertarian candidate for New York governor in 2018, U.S. vice presidential candidate in 2016, and member of the Libertarian Party National Committee
- Lauren Hall, libertarian scholar and assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at RIT
