William Cummings

USA TODAY

Libertarian vice presidential candidate William Weld said the country will be in "chaos" if Donald Trump wins the presidency and praised Hillary Clinton during an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Tuesday.

The former Massachusetts governor conceded that a realistic goal for the Libertarian Party in this election would be to win 5% of the popular vote and while he didn't call for Libertarian voters in swing states to vote for Clinton, he made it clear that he strongly opposes Donald Trump.

"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," Weld said. "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. And I think it would be a threat to the conduct of our foreign policy and our position in the world at large."

Weld also said he believes Trump is "psychologically" unstable, a bully and incapable of "competently managing the office of the presidency."

For Clinton, on the other hand, he had nothing but kind words. This was a clear break with his running mate, Gary Johnson, who has attacked both candidates.

"I've known her for 40 years. I've worked with her. I know her well, professionally," Weld said. "I know her well personally. I know her to be a person of high moral character, a reliable person and an honest person, however so much Mr. Trump may rant and rave to the contrary. So, I'm happy to say that, and people can make their own choices."

Weld said he believes Johnson would make a good president and he supports the Libertarian platform, but "having said that, I'm not taking back anything I said about the massive difference between the two establishment party candidates. One would be chaos for the country I think and the other would be a very business-like and capable and competent approach to our affairs."

Weld dismissed the latest news about the investigation into Clinton's email server as a "distraction" and said he disagreed with FBI Director James Comey's decision to inform lawmakers of the newly discovered emails. Weld said he did not agree with his own campaign's position, which condemned Clinton and Trump equally in a post after Comey's letter became public.

In early October, Weld still said he believed he and Johnson could win the election and explained his attacks on Trump were meant to bolster their chances.

Bill Weld: I'm focused on attacking Trump so we can win