Libertarian vice presidential nominee Bill Weld slammed the two major-party vice presidential nominees the day after Tuesday’s debate, comparing the election to a “scary movie.”
“Americans are frustrated. They think they’re watching a scary movie and they can’t change the channel, as my wife says,” Weld told WABC’s Rita Cosby on Wednesday.
{mosads}”But they can change the channel, and it would be Gary Johnson and Bill Weld,” the former Massachusetts governor said.
Weld said Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence were “both pretty good” in the debate, but he could have offered another perspective if he had been included in the debate.
The Libertarians were not included in the first presidential debate of 2016 last week or the sole vice presidential debate Tuesday night due to their standing in polls.
Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee, has pushed to get to the 15 percent threshold in polls necessary to get into the remaining two debates with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, but he is currently averaging around 7.5 percent.
“We’re probably the only ones who are pro-free trade and the only ones who are for restraint on military incursions,” Weld said of the Libertarian ticket.
As for Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Weld said he “might have given it to Pence on points.”
“He was a little bit more smooth and polished,” Weld said, but he noted Pence didn’t have a solid answer when he was forced to respond to comments about Trump that Kaine raised.
“I thought Pence was effective in demeanor and Sen. Kaine — who’s a good guy, I know him a little bit personally from Virginia, he’s a very good guy — but he was interrupting absolutely all the time. So he must’ve been coached to do that, but I thought it wore a little bit thin,” Weld said.