[VIDEO] Rep. Justin Amash takes a swing at question Salon.com says 'libertarians just can't answer'

Rising star Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) fired back at news site Salon.com on Wednesday, saying a popular challenge they posed against libertarianism has an easy answer.

The Salon.com story said no libertarian could ever answer the question “If your approach is so great, why hasn’t any country anywhere in the world ever tried it?”

Amash, in a sit-down interview with Campus Reform, pulled no punches.

“Well a country has tried it,” he said. “It’s called the United States.”

“Our founding principles are libertarian principles,” Amash continued, offering advice to libertarian students who might face the Salon.com challenge. “They’re classical liberal principles. It’s a belief in limited government, economic freedom and individual liberty.”

WATCH: Amash answers question Salon.com says ‘libertarians just can’t answer’

Amash said the United States follows libertarian principles “better than any other country” and warned against altering its path.

“As we move away from those principles, we move away from libertarianism, our country will become weaker and our people will become poorer,” he said.

“So we need to return to those principles, stick to classical liberal, libertarian principles, and we’ll have a bright future,” he concluded.

Follow the authors of this article on Twitter: @oliverdarcy, @josiahryan. @KCTimpf also contributed to this report.