Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld is under fire from members of his own party after espousing support for Democrat presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.
Appearing on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show Tuesday, Weld told Libertarian voters in the battleground state of North Carolina to instead give their vote to Hillary, claiming Donald Trump is a threat to the country.
“We are making our case that we’re fiscally responsible and socially inclusive and welcoming and we think we got on the merits the best ticket of the three parties if you will. And so we’d like to get there.”
“Having said that as I think you’re aware I see a big difference between the R candidate and the D candidate and I’ve been at some pains to say that I fear for the country if Mr. Trump should be elected. I think it’s a candidacy without any parallel that I can recall. It’s content-free and very much given to stirring up envy and resentment and even hatred. I think it would be a threat to the conduct of our foreign policy and our position in the world at large.”
Stating voters in North Carolina may decide the outcome of the 2016 election, Maddow asked why a Libertarian voter fearing Trump should vote for Hillary rather than Weld and his running mate Gary Johnson.
“I’m here vouching for Mrs. Clinton,” Weld told Maddow, “and I think it’s high time somebody did.”
Weld on Clinton: “I’m here vouching for Mrs. Clinton and I think it’s high time somebody did.” https://t.co/Tt5Ig83EOp
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) November 2, 2016
“I’m doing it based on my personal experience with her, and I think that she deserves to have people vouch for her other than members of the Democratic National Committee,” he stated.
Later in the interview, Weld also asserted the FBI should have held off on announcing their investigation into Clinton’s emails because “there’s nothing there.”
“It’s incomprehensible, and I can’t see it. Mr. Comey has a good background. But there’s nothing there, so far as appears. Nothing there,” Weld said.
Governor Weld, critical of Comey’s last-minute letter, does not agree with his running mate on this matter. https://t.co/xazmppMnjX
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) November 2, 2016
“I don’t get that. That’s violative of any number of Justice Department protocols and procedures. We should have gone to the Public Integrity sector and asked, ‘What do you folks think?'”
“It’s not a good thing. And I think it’s a distraction and we should just ignore it because there’s nothing there and get on with the business of the last week of the election.”
In a subsequent Fox Business interview, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson departed from his running mate’s support for Hillary, claiming he believed there was a chance she could be indicted if she takes office.
“Yeah, I do think that’s gonna transpire if she takes office that it’s going to be talk of impeachment for the entire time she’s in office. Whether or not it happens or not, we’ll see, but hey it’s going to be the everyday conversation,” Johnson said.
Following up on Weld’s comments, Fox host Kennedy asked why Johnson and his running mate’s views on Clinton seemed to be at odds:
“I am wondering as a pro-liberty libertarian why is there so much discord in your ticket?”
“I wouldn’t call it discord at all,” Johnson responded. “I just think that Bill really has it in for Trump and I do too. On the Hillary side I completely agree with you. On the Trump said I gotta say that that’s just going to be wacky. I think we’re going to be on the right side of history when it comes to voting.”
@MattWelch @KennedyNation @GovGaryJohnson That was amazing. pic.twitter.com/QlUQYais3H
— Josh Black (@joshuasblack) November 2, 2016
Finishing out the interview, Kennedy pleaded with Johnson to “Please keep Bill Weld away from the Libertarian Party.”
Earlier this year, Weld said he would dedicate remaining efforts in the campaign toward staving off a Trump presidency.
“The libertarians are reaching levels of cuckoldry never thought possible,” writes Chris Menahan for Information Liberation.
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