New Hampshire's Libertarian Party shared, then deleted, a message on social media praising as "an American hero" anyone who were to assassinate Vice President Kamala Harris.
While the political party deleted the initial post on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, the account said it only did so because of the site's rules and lamented that libertarians cannot speak freely there. The message was widely condemned, including by the chairmen of New Hampshire's Republican and Democratic parties.
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Later in the day, the New Hampshire Libertarian Party messaged, "Sic semper tyrannis," the Latin phrase that President Abraham Lincoln's killer shouted after his assassination in 1865, as well as a poll saying, "Would it have been good or bad if at least one governor who instituted lockdowns had been shot?"
Harris is running for president against former President Donald Trump, with the general election two months away. Also Sunday, a shooting was reported near Trump while he was golfing in Florida in what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt. Trump was safe.
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The initial post shared Sunday by the New Hampshire Libertarian Party on X read, "Anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be an American hero."
Later, the party explained on X why the post was deleted:
We deleted a tweet because we don't want to break the terms of this website we agreed to.
It's a shame that even on a 'free speech' website that libertarians cannot speak freely.
Libertarians are truly the most oppressed minority.
The New Hampshire Libertarian Party continued to post on X about the issue throughout the day, at one point saying, in a post the party pinned to the top of its feed, "If you enjoy our posting style, then join the party!"
The leaders of both major parties in New Hampshire denounced the violent rhetoric Sunday.
The chairman of the state's Republican Party, Chris Ager, condemned the comments unequivocally in a statement to NBC10 Boston that he also shared on X: "The comments by the Libertarian Party of NH suggesting an assasination of VP Harris are condemned in the strongest possible terms. There is no room for this type of dialogue. PERIOD."
His Democratic counterpart, Raymond Buckley, wrote on X, "The Libertarian Party of NH encouraging the assasination of Vice President Harris must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Political violence is never acceptable, and their statement was disgusting, dangerous and wrong."
A representative for the Libertarian Party, asked for comment about the post on X, told NBC10 Boston Monday, "The Libertarian Party believes that NBC journalists are lying propagandists who would be physically removed from any decent society."
A Secret Service spokesman told NBC10 Boston that the agency was aware of the post. The statement said that, "as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees."
Libertarians have flocked to New Hampshire in recent years in a political migration known as the Free State Project, which NBC10 Boston has covered.
