Libertarian vice presidential nominee Bill Weld defended Hillary Clinton Tuesday night, acknowledging an explicit split with his running mate Gary Johnson.
Weld, in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, said he disagreed with FBI Director James Comey’s decision to announce publicly the agency was looking into more Clinton emails just days before the election and defended the Democratic presidential nominee whom he has known for decades.
“I’m here vouching for Mrs. Clinton, and I think it’s high time somebody did,” Weld said.
Asked about a campaign press release sent in the wake of the FBI announcement that was critical of Clinton, Weld said: “Gary and I have not agreed on a number of substantive issues in this campaign … I do not agree with that release.”
The former Massachusetts governor and Justice Department official has split deeply with Johnson in reaction to the news, and Tuesday’s interview was perhaps the most overt acknowledgment of that split.
The interview also contained a concession from Weld that their third party bid was likely to not end in victory “in the real world.”
He said he believed the Libertarian Party had a chance of victory at the outset of the race, but “not getting in the debates really foreclosed that option.”
