Libertarian candidate for President, Gary Johnson, and his VP pick, Bill Weld, have made their dislike of Donald Trump very obvious whenever they get the chance. Bill Weld even took the opportunity to mock Trump during their last CNN Town Hall interview.
Continuing his vocal disdain for Trump, Johnson recently pulled no punches in an interview with the New York Times. When asked about the Republican nominee, Johnson had this to say:
Mr. Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, said in an interview that he agreed with previous statements from his running mate, William F. Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, that Mr. Trump’s comments about immigrants echoed Nazi-era attacks against Jews. Mr. Weld, he said, had been “spot on” in his remarks. Asked if he considered Mr. Trump a fascist, Mr. Johnson said he did.
“It walks like a duck, quacks like a duck,” Mr. Johnson said. “Where’s the Constitution in all this?”
He added, “He’s saying horrible things.”
Johnson is typically known for his unwillingness to sling mud in politics, relying instead on facts and policy to paint his opponents as unfit for office. This election season has put much of that on the back burner, especially in regard to Trump, who too often demonstrates his willingness to lower the bar, and make promises that fall outside of constitutional bounds.
Johnson doesn’t stop at Trump, however. He has often described Clinton as “beholden” to too many people, and continuously making promises to anyone and everyone who might help her get into office.
But Mr. Johnson, who is seeking to reach 15 percent support in national polls to qualify for the presidential debates, also sharply criticized Mrs. Clinton on Tuesday. He described the activities of the Clinton Foundation as a “pay to play” scheme, whereby foundation officials sought donations from people seeking access to the government.
“It’s so blatant and it’s so obvious,” Mr. Johnson said.
Johnson’s theme here is that he’s not seeking power, unlike his other two opponents. He often makes the comment that he’s not being elected King, and when asked about major policy reforms, instead of lying and saying “he’ll do X,” he opts instead to say “if I could wave a magic wand.”
Johnson is not in the habit of spoon feeding people what they want to hear in order to attain high office. However, his brutal honesty in regards to candidates like Trump may seem bombastic, but to many, this is exactly why they left the Republican party.
So far, Trump and Clinton both have done their level best to ignore Johnson, but the time is swiftly coming when that might not be an option, and the sooner Johnson can get them to pay attention to him, the better. Poking Trump, who famously is not very good at letting words against him slide past, might be the thing that brings Johnson into the ring.
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