Penn Jillette Interviewed By Nick Gillespie, On Trump And Libertarian Politics

I’ve been a big fan of the showmanship of Penn Jillette, of the eponymous magicians’ act Penn and Teller, for many years but less so of his overt libertarian beliefs (which he shares with stage partner, Raymond Teller). That said his politics have tended to lean more towards classical libertarianism rather than the more extreme pro-capitalist economic liberalism that predominates the movement in the United States (represented by the questionable policies of Ron Paul and others). In recent years he has been quite outspoken in his defence of Barack Obama as an individual, if not as president, and has expressed some admiration for the political integrity of Bernie Sanders. Unfortunately he has now thrown his public weight behind Gary Johnson, the utterly bland presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, an organisation whose membership frequently greys into that of the Republican Party. However this interview with the journalist and advocate Nick Gillespie of Reason TV, the YouTube channel of the libertarian website, Reason, reveals some interesting views on the cross-over between American politics and celebrity.