Young Americans for Liberty is giving students the opportunity to dine with a former presidential candidate
Austin Petersen, who ran for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee and lost to former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, is speaking in Phillips Auditorium Thursday at 5 p.m. to speak about the election and the future of the Libertarian Party. YAL will also draw five students in a raffle to eat dinner with Petersen after his speech.
“Petersen is the face of the liberty movement right now,” YAL President junior Brendan Noble said. “We have around 250 people coming from all over Michigan to see Petersen. Petersen has a big name, and we are excited to get a lot of liberty-lovers in one spot.”
Petersen is founder of The Libertarian Republic, an online news source focused on economic freedom and CEO and owner of Stonegate LLC, a consulting firm and production company. Petersen also worked as an associate producer on Fox Business Network and with FreedomWorks, a grassroots political organization founded to limit government, lower taxes, and to protect economic freedom.
Only 35-year-old, Petersen has gained a large following of millennials. His outreach on social media through his “dank memes, live streams” campaign focused on young voters passionate about liberty.
“Petersen is accessible to anyone,” Noble said. “Even I’m friends with him on Facebook. He is willing to discuss issues with anyone, and he is very involved with youth across America. His takeoff was his livestream on Facebook. He could directly talk to people across the country and answer questions. He was a real person, not a politician.”
Noble said he preferred Petersen over Johnson, who failed to reach 5 percent in the national popular vote this election needed to obtain federal funding as a minor party.
“When I contacted him, Petersen was actually excited to come and talk about economic issues,” Noble said. “Johnson was ridiculous in interviews, and he put the face of Libertarianism as weed, We missed a huge opportunity with Austin. He’s pro-life, engaged with young voters, and he could have provided a choice other than Trump.”
