Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein dismissed the notion that voting for her could help elect the GOP’s Donald Trump — telling her backers at Wheaton College yesterday to avoid the temptation to vote for “lesser evil” candidates such as Democrat Hillary Clinton or Trump.

“People say, ‘Well, aren’t you afraid of Donald Trump getting elected?’ I’ll say yes, that would be a horrible thing,” Stein said. “But I am also terrified of Hillary Clinton in the White House with her finger on the button.”

Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd at Hindle Auditorium, Stein said that while Trump “says despicable things,” Americans can’t afford a presidency under Clinton, either. By “expanding a no-fly zone” in Syria, Stein said, Clinton has provoked a potential nuclear war against Russia.

“When you vote for the lesser evil, you’re allowing yourself to be silenced,” Stein said to more than 200 in attendance at the Norton campus. “And if we are silenced, you create a moral vacuum. Democracy needs a moral compass that is not coming from political parties funded by our predatory banks and fossil-fuel giants and war profiteers.”

Political insiders have argued that a vote for Stein is a de facto vote for Donald Trump. Stein of Lexington is a physician who also ran for the nation’s highest office in 2012 and has unsuccessfully run for governor of the Bay State. Her supporters yesterday said they were all in for her regardless of the ramifications for Clinton or Trump.

“I’m voting for Jill,” said Wheaton freshman Francis Wood. “I don’t think I should vote for Hillary just because she is the candidate I disagree with the least or I like more than the other major candidate.”

Jane Switchenko, 58, of Sturbridge said she’s been a card-carrying Democrat since 1976. But when Bernie Sanders endorsed Clinton, she thought, “It’s all a sham.”

Switchenko said she supports Stein’s environmental policies and appreciates her concern for college students who are saddled in debt.

“I’m absolutely voting for Jill Stein,” Switchenko said. “I can vote for whoever I want.”

Stein yesterday hit some of her major campaign points, including calling for solutions on global warming, disarmament of nuclear weapons, slashing the defense budget, and a ?$1.3 billion bailout for students who owe money on loans. Stein also vowed to make public universities free and private colleges more affordable.

Stein told the crowd yesterday Wall Street was to blame for the 2008 economic crash and students deserve a bailout like corporate banks got.

“If we did it for the crooks on Wall Street, it is about time that we do it for the young people who are the victims of that wage fraud and abuse on Wall Street.”