"She deserves to have people vouch for her other than members of the Democratic National Committee," Bill Weld says. | Getty VP Libertarian candidate Weld: I'm 'vouching for Mrs. Clinton'

Libertarian vice presidential nominee Bill Weld admitted Tuesday night that his ticket’s shot of winning the White House went out the window when it failed to qualify for the presidential debates, and as such, he went on TV in a new role: surrogate for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

“Well I’m here vouching for Mrs. Clinton and I think it’s high time somebody did,” the former Republican Massachusetts governor said on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Tuesday night. “And I’m doing it based on my personal experience with her and I think she deserves to have people vouch for her other than members of the Democratic National Committee. So, I’m here to do that.”


Weld, running alongside former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on the Libertarian ticket, said the former secretary of state is “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.” He said he has known her for four decades, both professionally and personally, and for a resident of a swing state like North Carolina weighing a vote for Johnson or one of the major-party candidates, Weld happily made the case for Clinton.

His praise for Clinton put him somewhat at odds with Johnson, who said on a Colorado radio show that the former secretary of state’s long-running email scandal constituted “Watergate kind of stuff” and telling the host that he sees her as corrupt. Should she enter the White House under criminal investigation, Johnson said “unquestionably this is going to be the nation's agenda for the entire time she is office and it may well end up in impeachment.” Johnson's remarks were first reported by CNN.

Weld admitted in his interview with Maddow that a more realistic goal for the Libertarian ticket on Election Day would be reaching 5 percent of the vote, a threshold that would trigger “minor party” status from the Federal Election Commission and federal campaign funds for the 2020 Libertarian nominee. Weld said that “we think we’ve got, on the merits, the best ticket of the three parties” but appeared empathetic to the choice facing swing state residents weighing a vote for the Libertarian party that could end up helping Trump win the White House.

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