On the record · Updated October 18, 2026
71 things Nick Gillespie said, verbatim, from July 3, 2026 to October 17, 2026, each linked to where it ran. Grouped by the story each one belongs to.
More on the record
Posted it themselves
“Even Republicans want out of Trump's stupid, misconceived, and poorly prosecuted war with Iran. New @reason Roundtable is up, w @kmanguward @MattWelch @petersuderman and me. I recommend the Everyday Abundance podcast with @vpostrel and @CharlesCMann”
on Republican opposition to the Iran war, plus a Reason Roundtable episode
Posted it themselves
“Donald Trump declares an economic D Day on Iran, whose defeat he has already announced on multiple occasions. Next up: Trump declares Buy Nothing Day from Iran.”
on Trump's economic sanctions and rhetoric toward Iran
Posted it themselves
“'Galleries are expanding. Festivals continue. Ukrainian writers are reaching new audiences. Ukrainian designers, photographers, musicians, and filmmakers are introducing the country to the world on their own terms.' @DavisOliverR on @Ukraine 's wartime cultural renaissance for @ACForesight”
on Ukraine's arts and culture scene thriving despite the war
Posted it themselves
“Yes, it's amazing that at least until recently Chinese people in China tended to become very poor until they moved to other countries and suddenly became hardworking and wealthy.”
on Chinese emigrants becoming wealthier abroad than in China
Posted it themselves
“Great converation with @AXELKAISER abt the libertarian ideas that propelled @JMilei to power in @Argentina --and are creating economic and cultural freedom. Via @reason”
Posted it themselves
“Our own State Dept. tells Americans not to travel to Haiti. Shameful policy from Trump, @StephenM , et al.”
Posted it themselves
“'The threat to free societies has never been too much freedom. It has always been authoritarianism — and always will be.' Must-read by @radleybalko on how 9/11 allowed state power to increasingly infringe on civil liberties.”
on Radley Balko's essay arguing 9/11 expanded state power over civil liberties
Posted it themselves
“George W. Bush threw the best presidential pitch ever. But his administration's response to the 9/11 attacks--compounded by unrestrained domestic spending through his last day in office--represents one of the biggest blunders in American history. https:// wsj.com/articles/SB123 275512887811775 …”
Posted it themselves
“'Americans have learned virtually no lessons from 9/11: We still believe in the false promise of trading freedom for safety.' New from me at @reason .”
Posted it themselves
“It's outrageous that @reason staffer and US citizen @matthew_petti was held and interrogated by CPB for no stated reason while reentering the country. Read his acct and contact your reps!”
Posted it themselves
“Tariffs were/are bad, anyway you slice it. @CGasparino is right.”
Posted it themselves
“Mexico and Canada are our two largest trade partners, accounting for abt 28 percent of annual back-and-forth. China is a distant third. https:// shippingsolutionssoftware.com/blog/top-u.s.- trading-partners …”
As printed
“it ends the drama created by Trump in the first place.”
on Trump moving to withdraw from the USMCA trade deal he negotiated
Reason.com Trump Called the USMCA His 'Best Deal.' Now, He Wants Out of It. ›
Posted it themselves
“Is this a parody? If you think it's a tragedy that 'brands' like Brookstone, second only to SkyMall as a crap distributor of marked-up junk, or Claire's, the nation's leader in mall-based earlobe infections, have an infinite right to exist in a free market, you're high.”
Posted it themselves
“I feel like there's a pervasive sense of exhaustion now reminiscent of the late '70s, when the economy was farged, Elvis dead, and the world had faded to beige. And yet ppl kept getting freer, technology more empowering, and rebirth around the corner.”
Posted it themselves
“And yet for the past 30+ years at least, Springsteen has propagated a declinist narrative about America totally at odds with the material growth you and others document @MichaelRStrain , one as dispiriting as anything Tom Joad ever encountered! https:// nickgillespie.substack.com/p/there-is-a-p alpable-sense-that-we …”
Posted it themselves
“'In Loudoun County alone, data centers generated about $1.2 billion in property tax revenue in fiscal year 2026, representing around 39% of the county's overall budget.' Data centers are the most unpopular thing going, despite benefits.”
Posted it themselves
“Universal minimum income, not UBI, which goes to too many who don't need it, but yes. End age-based transfer programs!”
Posted it themselves
“'And no one is asking policymakers to become die-hard libertarians.' Which is exactly why Republican governance this century has been such a disaster. Dems, too, but conservatives pretend to defend free minds and free markets--and Milton Friedman.”
Posted it themselves
“As much as possible, ppl shld pay for their own education, health care, retirement. When Social Security and, to a lesser degree, Medicare, were enacted, folks 65+ were more likely than average to be poor. Help the needy, not the well-off; shrink size, scope, spending of govt.”
on shrinking government and who Social Security and Medicare should serve
Posted it themselves
“I'm 63 and would be happy to forego all the dollars I've poured into Social Security if it would be ended immediately and the payroll tax scrapped.”
Posted it themselves
“The @PostOpinions crew has been doing exceptional work on the looming debt crisis. Read this with care and do something about it! The late '90s-early '00s surpluses were bipartisan, so is the explosion of deficits over last 25 years. https:// washingtonpost.com/opinions/inter active/2026/09/28/nations-success-depends-fiscal-space-america-is-almost-out/ …”
on a Washington Post opinion series about the looming national debt crisis
Posted it themselves
“So MAGA, post-liberal conservatives bitching and moaning about libertarians now that their reactionary agenda has been revealed to be the losing gambit that libertarians warned about. Being anti-war, anti-deficit spending, anti-tariff & pro freedom is good, actually.”
on conservatives criticizing libertarians who oppose war, deficit spending and tariffs
Posted it themselves
“If you want libertarians to vote for your party or candidates, you should be working to reduce the size, scope, and spending of govt. Under Trump, the GOP fails miserably to do any of this.”
Posted it themselves
“After buying and selling four houses, I've joined two of my @reason Roundtable cohosts, @kmanguward and @MattWelch , in the renting club. So much depends on who you are, where you are, and when you are in the market. Ideally, there would be no tax advantages for owning.”
Posted it themselves
“Shameful. Trump admin pledges to accept 17,500 Afrikaners as refugees in coming year. In FY2026, ALL refugees were Afrikaners except for three (3) ppl from Afghanistan.”
on the Trump administration's refugee admissions being almost entirely Afrikaners in FY2026
Posted it themselves
“I've got many issues with Bush family dynasty (esp. the two terms of George W.) but they have been remarkably consistent about the benefits of immigration (cultural and economic) and have always pushed back against the remnants of racism and xenophobia. Thanks for this @JebBush”
on the Bush family's consistent pro-immigration record despite other criticisms
Posted it themselves
“There is nothing simple abt America's immigration laws, @CBPCommissioner @CBP . Via @reason”
Posted it themselves
“The US is a big enough country to make space for anyone who wants to live peacefully and work. This is a stupid waste of time and money, for @Nero and everyone else in his situation.”
Posted it themselves
“Like all true stories, this one is complicated. And like all immigration stories during Trump, this one shreds the fiction that America is a country that people can come to remake themselves.”
Posted it themselves
“'That's what makes Garner interesting. It aims to reduce one of healthcare's most persistent information asymmetries: Patients usually know far less than providers about the quality of the care they're buying.' @dr4liberty @reason”
on Garner, a tool aimed at helping patients judge the quality of care
Posted it themselves
“For @reason , I talked with psychologist Peter Gray about his new book Restoring Childhood, which argues that K-12 curriculum is largely responsible for increases in adolescent mental health issues, his disagreements with @LetGrowOrg cofounder @JonHaidt abt social media effects, and how to revive free-range parenting.”
Posted it themselves
“'So our kids are going to preschools at age 3 or 4 where they are treated as clueless, exhausted, dumb, dull, decrepit near-humans who need boring, didactic and confusing instructions — as do their teachers.' @FreeRangeKids @LetGrowOrg @reason”
Posted it themselves
“Tennessee's botched execution is a gruesome reminder that the death penalty should be abolished. Here's a 2014 @reason video laying out 3 reasons libertarians oppose it.”
Posted it themselves
“For @reason , I interviewed former @XRebellionUK spokesperson @ziontree , whose pro-nuclear/pro-clean energy book Energy Is Life has been praised by ppl like @sapinker & @michaelshermer . Really good stuff”
on pro-nuclear energy advocacy interview
Posted it themselves
“Here's how it answered my queries. Seems fine, tbh. It's a waste of time and money, for sure, but it doesn't seem insanely biased.”
Posted it themselves
“'The irony here is that our society is good at nothing if not making it hard to build new things. Where these labs are, you cannot build an eight-story apartment building without an agonizing public review process, and probably not even then.' This is part of @ezraklein 's argument to tightly regulate AI.”
on Ezra Klein's case for tightly regulating AI
Posted it themselves
“So now kids tap a card to get on/off school bus, which shows the driver "info on the child." (WTH???) Everything is always "for the safety" of our precious kids. How about the autonomy of our kids? How about not normalizing the surveillance state? https:// bit.ly/4huICBS”
on school buses using tap cards to track and share children's information
Posted it themselves
“I lived in Texas as it shifted from Democrat status to Republican. @DraperRobert 's story about midterms is filled with the sort of insight and experience that only a native son can bring to the material. Worth reading, regardless of who you're rooting for”
Posted it themselves
“"What a conservative is today is far different than it was 11 years ago, you know? And the parties are completely different. If it were up to me, I'd get rid of all political parties. I think they've outlived their usefulness. They're just a way to raise money and to try to aggregate power as opposed to the power of ideas. I don't give to politicians. I don't give a penny to politicians. Either you agree with what I have to say and you think it's of value to you, or you don't. And I have no intent of changing that." I interviewed @mcuban for @reason . We talk about his @costplusdrugs company, why he appeared with @jamestalarico , and how Texas went from blue to purple to red to...whatever is happening now. And more. Video+Audio+Text”
Posted it themselves
“Haven't found any polling since mid-summer but @KalshiPolitics has Harris with a 90+ percent likelihood of beating his opponent. https:// kalshi.com/markets/kxhous erace/m/kxhouserace-md01-26 …”
Posted it themselves
“It's sad that Michigan could have nominated the principled libertarian @justinamash to run for Senate in 2024. Instead, the state's Republicans chose @MikeRogersForMI , who lost that general and is about to become a two-time loser to a socialist.”
on Michigan Republicans choosing Mike Rogers over Justin Amash for Senate in 2024
Posted it themselves
“In case anyone was wondering just how much more fucked-up Los Angeles can get under incompetent leadership driven by the outer edges of limousine progressivism, well, we're all about to find out.”
Posted it themselves
“You know MAGA, Trumpy, post-liberal conservatives/Republicans know they are tanking big time when they start attacking libertarians. They got everything they wanted, including an insanely stupid new war and deficit spending, and are now carping abt weed legalization. Sad!”
Posted it themselves
“"If you think I suck, just wait till you see the other guy" is not a way to win elections. Yes, things can always get worse, but there is no way they can get better if Trump and the GOP stay in power without changing course. https:// reason.com/2026/09/23/bro -we-need-your-vote-matt-gaetz-and-a-desperate-gop-wrestle-with-trumps-unpopularity/ …”
Posted it themselves
“Like Biden, Obama, Bush, and himself in his first term, Trump is unpopular with voters before midterms because he has mostly followed through on campaign promises, with predictably disastrous results.”
Posted it themselves
“This Republican is running for the Texas Railroad Commission, an immensely powerful regulatory body that oversees the oil and gas industry. Conservatives shld look at the history of California in the 1990s, when Gov. Pete Wilson abd other nativists destroyed the state party out of xenophobia and racism.”
Posted it themselves
“'Populism cannot be defeated by doing populism.' @JMilei at Winds of Change conference, Buenos Aires. Commitment to limited government and libertarian values is intense, rare among elected officials. @ArchbridgeInst @liberyprogre @reason”
Posted it themselves
“And yet this coalition of the pathetic will almost certainly take the House and possibly the Senate, especially if Trump insists on pushing the likes of Lindsey Graham's sister and serial adulterer and grifter Ken Paxton. But at least we'll have Lake America...”
Posted it themselves
“Independent of this being a public political event, South Carolina is a one-party consent state, meaning it is legal to record a conversation if one of the participant (such as the person recording) consents. Darlene Graham is a terrible candidate and a disaster in the making.”
Posted it themselves
“Ran on eliminating CIA, NSA, FBI; legalizing abortion, drugs, homosexuality, and prostitution; ending military interventions not defensive in nature; abolishing tariffs and reducing or eliminating most taxes and transfer programs; allowing more immigration. Got 1% of pop vote.”
Posted it themselves
“Also true of Republicans. @DemSocialists ideas are demonstrably bad but they are beating nothing w something (something terrible, but something).”
Posted it themselves
“Great conversation abt left/right wing populism and how classical liberal/libertarian ideas provide a compelling alternative to dead ideologies of the past. As Hayek wrote, 'We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage.'”
Posted it themselves
“Great, another protected category of potential FBI hires.”
Posted it themselves
“Looking forward to the person who takes the record down to 72 hours... https:// nytimes.com/2026/10/16/us/ politics/katie-zacharia-fired-press-secretary.html …”
Posted it themselves
“This is something a mentally ill person would post. Or the current president of the US. Pathetic, disturbing.”
Posted it themselves
“To those mad abt Trump putting the odious Woodrow Wilson in the GREAT tier: Like Wilson, Trump campaigned on a similarly broken 'He Kept Us Out of War!' platform. If we find out Melania is really running the second admin, the analogy will be even tighter.”
on comparing Trump's political persona to Woodrow Wilson's
Posted it themselves
“‘We'd be better off as a country rejecting the mentality satirized so deftly in The Sopranos a quarter-century ago, the passive-aggressive actions of the Biden administration, or the ideological diktat of the Trump administration. We could instead treat ethnic pride not as a zero-sum game but as source material for the next great amalgamation of American identity, one more element in a melting pot that gets bigger and more capacious with each new addition.’ From I'm Italian-American But I Don't Celebrate Columbus Day https:// substack.com/home/post/p-22 0074057 …”
Posted it themselves
“'Way back in 1989, researchers were aware that fraternities were a unique vector for sexual assault.' Read @espiers on Cornell case in @thenation”
Posted it themselves
“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit issued a landmark ruling Monday that a Connecticut man had a First Amendment right to film a police station from a public sidewalk, but it also ruled that the officers who arrested the man are immune from his lawsuit.”
on a federal appeals ruling on filming police stations and officer immunity
Posted it themselves
“Even if it's a loser case, good to see nets pushing back on feds here.”
Posted it themselves
“Publisher pulls Ross Barkan book on Mamdani after plagiarism issues on other work occur.”
Posted it themselves
“They also have very little regard for the First Amendment. Excellent piece by @_meagan_orourke for @reason . A reminder that many (though not all!) cops are bastards! https:// reason.com/2026/08/10/pol ice-department-in-south-carolina-says-it-has-zero-tolerance-for-hate-speech/ …”
Posted it themselves
“Columbus Day isn't what it used to be. And that's a good thing. My latest for @reason .”
Posted it themselves
“Oh please. Are you Danny DeVito, Mike Tyson, Barbara Mandrell, and Special Olympians singing and dancing with Arnold Schwarzenegger old?”
on whether people who sing and dance with Arnold Schwarzenegger count as old
Posted it themselves
“About the only thing I hate more than jagoff college coaches making a bazillion dollars a year are jagoff senators hell-bent on capping college-coach salaries.”
Posted it themselves
“As someone who spent most of my adult life in places like western NY, east Texas, and southwestern Ohio, there's much wisdom here. The coastal and elite centers have never exerted less power over quality of life abd opportunity. Younger people should roam the country and find where they like best...”
Posted it themselves
“The casual and mostly unheralded heroism of so many American public figures (sports, entertainment, politics) from that era remains remarkable and inspirational.”
on overlooked heroism among past American sports, entertainment and political figures
Posted it themselves
“'Libertarians are a monstrous, disgusting bunch of people: they plagiarize my ideas when that fits their purpose, and denounce me in a more vicious manner than any communist publication when that fits their purpose,' Ayn Rand.”
on Ayn Rand's criticism of libertarians who invoked her ideas
Posted it themselves
“'few are there to consider the artist’s original vision, to create a semblance of her mental terrors, to make you see your own reflection splintered into endlessness. Instead, they take a selfie.' @akmunroe on Kusama.”
Posted it themselves
“IMO, Tom Lehrer was right to slag Little Boxes "as the most sanctimonious song ever written." Reduces other people's postwar upward striving to mere conformity based on superficial attributes. A lefty tune filled with dumb moralizing that ignores class as an analytic category!”
on Tom Lehrer's critique of the folk song Little Boxes
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In their own words
Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch · 2011
Reason editors Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch argue that Americans are more libertarian than either party and lay out a program of less government control.
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