Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Gary Johnson is getting some official support from Republicans who won’t be backing GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Launched on Monday, Republicans for Johnson-Weld is a coalition of (mostly) young Republican leaders who have worked for everyone from former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and have served on such notable bodies as the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the House GOP communications team.
Their mission is to “support the most Republican ticket on the ballot,” which they say is the two former Republican governors who now make up the Libertarian Party ticket.
The launch had been relatively quiet until last night, when Republicans for Johnson-Weld spokesperson Liz Mair went on CNN and fired the first salvo from the group at Trump, calling the New York real estate mogul a “loudmouth dick.”
Instead of shying away from Mair’s comments, Republicans for Johnson-Weld snapped up LoudmouthDick.com, and set up the URL so that it redirects to Trump’s campaign website.
Mair says that she’s received hundreds of messages of support for her interview. “My email has been blowing up with messages from random people from across America saying I perfectly summarized Trump and that having watched the town hall afterwards to check out my candidate, Gary Johnson, they were impressed and pleased with what they saw,” Mair told Heat Street.
She also says that buying the domain was the only natural response: “Setting up the redirect was a simple, low-budget way of reinforcing that message and highlighting the contrast between a guy whose primary message is the never-ending airing of grievances—most of them personal, and some ethnic or religious in nature— and the Johnson-Weld ticket.”
Republicans for Johnson-Weld will continue to host events promoting Gary Johnson’s platform and work to get Johnson and Weld on the main debate stage. They will also work for down-ticket Republicans they say are being harmed by top-ticket Trump.