As Libertarian vice presidential nominee Bill Weld appeared as a guest on Monday's New Day, co-host Chris Cuomo repeatedly pressed him over whether his candidacy with Gary Johnson as presidential nominee was hurting Hillary Clinton to the benefit of Donald Trump. Even after Weld argued that he believes that mostly moderate Republicans are planning to vote for the Libertarian ticket, Cuomo pressed him twice more on the issue.
The CNN host opened the segment at 7:27 a.m. ET by hyping a recent quote from Weld in which he had stated that Clinton is the "most qualified" candidate. Cuomo began:
Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld making a surprising statement saying that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate to be President. What about his running mate, Gary Johnson? What about him? Joining us now, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. Governor, injecting honesty into a process like this is never recommended.
He added:
So what do you want to achieve by saying something like that? You know there's a reason that those types of statements aren't said, even if believed, in politics. Why did you do it?
After the former Massachusetts governor argued that, although Clinton has the strongest resume "on paper," that he believes he and Johnson are better on the issues, Cuomo questioned Johnson's qualifications as he followed up: "Why is your confidence in Governor Johnson not shaken after his recent gaffes that show an apparent lack of understanding of world events?"
Cuomo then brought up the issue of whether there would be a repeat of the 2000 election in which a third party candidate helped weaken the Democratic nominee:
This situation kind of leads to the elephant in the room, Governor, which is, and I mean this with no disrespect, you know I respect the ticket, we did the town hall, that you are taking votes from someone. And I know there's a dispute about who it is, but there is a suggestion that, as with Ralph Nader, that these third parties -- Libertarian or Jill Stein with the Green Party -- will take it away from Hillary Clinton. And are you concerned that you may deliver Donald Trump a presidency?
After asking a few questions on the issue of how Trump may have used the tax system to avoid paying income taxes, Cuomo returned to the issue of whether the Libertarian ticket could help Trump get elected. Cuomo:
I want to go back to this last premise, though. You said during the town hall, you've said in interviews, that you are worried about the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency, but it is a very real prospect. And that doesn't seem to weigh on your analysis of your own ticket's presence in this race. Why not?
After Weld repeated that he believes it will be mostly moderate Republicans who will vote for the Libertarian ticket, the CNN host continued pressing as he followed up:
If pollsters or someone you trusted came forward and said, "Hey, our data shows we're drawing independents largely, and we're biting into Clinton's part of that apple. Trump's numbers fairly fixed. There's attrition on her end, it's coming to us." Would that change your analysis of what to do with your campaign?
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Monday, October 3, New Day on CNN:
7:27 a.m. ET
CHRIS CUOMO: Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld making a surprising statement saying that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate to be President. What about his running mate, Gary Johnson? What about him? Joining us now, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. Governor, injecting honesty into a process like this is never recommended.
BILL WELD, LIBERTARIAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (laughing): It's unthinkable, Chris. You're absolutely right.
CUOMO: So what do you want to achieve by saying something like that? You know there's a reason that those types of statements aren't said, even if believed, in politics. Why did you do it? [WELD]
Why is your confidence in Governor Johnson not shaken after his recent gaffes that show an apparent lack of understanding of world events? [WELD]
But you know that the situation isn't going anywhere, and you're going to have to deal with it as President of the United States. You have to understand its intricacies, and this situation kind of leads to the elephant in the room, Governor, which is, and I mean this with no disrespect, you know I respect the ticket, we did the town hall, that you are taking votes from someone. And I know there's a dispute about who it is, but there is a suggestion that, as with Ralph Nader, that these third parties -- Libertarian or Jill Stein with the Green Party -- will take it away from Hillary Clinton. And are you concerned that you may deliver Donald Trump a presidency? [WELD]
Donald Trump's supporters say the fact that he was able to carry forward a loss of $915 million for maybe two decades shows he is a business genius. What do you say? [WELD]
Well, that size for that duration from someone saying, "Make me President, and I'm a great businessman," becomes a little bit of a confused picture, does it not? [WELD]
Do you believe that Donald Trump would change a tax system that he benefits from to this degree? [WELD]
I want to go back to this last premise, though. You said during the town hall, you've said in interviews, that you are worried about the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency, but it is a very real prospect. And that doesn't seem to weigh on your analysis of your own ticket's presence in this race. Why not? [WELD]
If pollsters or someone you trusted came forward and said, "Hey, our data shows we're drawing independents largely, and we're biting into Clinton's part of that apple. Trump's numbers fairly fixed. There's attrition on her end, it's coming to us." Would that change your analysis of what to do with your campaign. [WELD]
