From the Washington Examiner on May 4:
“In the hours after the polls closed in Indiana and it was announced that businessman Donald Trump had won the Republican presidential primary — thereby ending Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign — the Libertarian Party saw a doubling of its new membership applications.
“Between 7 p.m. Tuesday evening and noon on Wednesday, the Libertarian Party received 99 new memberships. For the same time period a day earlier, the LP received only 46 new memberships.
“In an email to the Washington Examiner, LP Executive Director Wes Benedict said he was unaware of any social media efforts by the party to recruit new members, and believed the increase was in response to Trump becoming the clear Republican nominee.
“Of course they are scared of Trump. Trump sounds like an authoritarian,” Benedict wrote. “We don’t need a secret deal-maker. We need more transparency, and a smaller, less intrusive government that provides a level playing field for all and has fewer deals for special interests.
“Many of the new members are leaving comments when they sign up that say, in effect, “I’m giving up on the GOP.”
