From Jo Jorgensen's presidential campaign:
At a town hall on October 15, Libertarian for president Dr. Jo Jorgensen laid out her positions on criminal justice reform, health care, government spending, the drug war, vaccine mandates, and more
GREENVILLE, S.C.; October 16, 2020— “If you live in a swing state,” said Dr. Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian candidate for president, “…you can actually change the course of this country.”
Her remarks were made at an Oct. 15th town hall moderated by Matt Welch, a Reason magazine editor at large. It aired immediately after two town halls featuring Democratic nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
Jorgensen also encouraged undecided voters in “safe” states to vote for her, given that the outcome in those states is a lock for either Biden or Trump.
Jorgensen explained that Democratic voters don’t have to settle for a party that foists a less desirable candidate on them—referring to Biden—and which muzzled Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii), the only antiwar candidate in their party’s primaries.
Jorgensen appealed to Republican voters, noting that many voters chose Trump in 2016 because he was an “outsider,” but that he is not acting like one now that he’s in office, driving up spending and debt.
Jorgensen urged undecided Democrats and Republicans, alike, to vote for her, the “true outsider.”
Jorgensen’s responses to Welch’s questions, along with those submitted by voters, were substantive and thorough, and they covered a host of issues important to everyday Americans.
On criminal-justice reform, Jorgensen called for ending the drug war and replacing it with a “drug peace.” She also called for stopping the militarization of police.
She vowed to lift the FDA’s and CDC’s shackles on COVID-19 testing, so that tests will be made widely available.
She decried the economic shutdowns from which Americans are suffering, driven by a misbegotten effort to fight COVID. When asked what she would specifically do about it, she promised to sue the states and take whatever legal action is needed.
When asked if she would ever raise a tax, she said, “I would never raise a tax—ever.” She went on to explain her goal of ending the federal income tax.
When asked about mandatory vaccines, which Biden supports, Jorgensen said, “We’re talking about someone forcibly putting a substance into your body. I am just shocked that that’s even a question, in our country. And even though I have chosen vaccinations, and I have chosen vaccinations for my children, I would never … force other people to put something into their bodies.”
The Jorgensen town hall contrasted sharply with that of Joe Biden’s. ABC’s George Stephanopoulus fed the former vice president mostly softball questions, and allowed him to ramble on in an apparent attempt to dodge hard questions on court packing and mandates to use masks or take vaccines.
NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, who moderated the town hall with President Trump, asked him “gotcha” questions and argued with his answers, creating an event that resembled the mudslinging that characterized the first presidential debate, on Sept. 29.
“I’m not asking you to vote for me,” Jorgensen said. “I’m asking you to vote for you—because you know better how to spend your money, you know better your family priorities, than any politician or bureaucrat in Washington.”
The Jorgensen town hall can be seen at the Jorgensen–Cohen 2020 campaign’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, or Twitter page.
