Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld always had a knack for making headlines. Whether it's diving into the Charles River, raising a glass with his political nemisis, very publicly fainting while accepting an award, or even waging a 2005 short lived bid for Governor of New York.
Now, for the first time in more than a decade, Weld is back in the political spotlight, this time as the Libertarian Party's Vice Presidential Nominee, a race he won over the weekend at the party convention in Florida alongside the party's Presidential nominee Gary Johnson.
In an interview last week with NBC's Chuck Todd, Weld said, "I don't think we'd be doing it if there weren't this feeling in the country of disquietude with the two leading candidates who are Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton."
Weld says the two former Republicans are running as fiscal conservatives and social liberals; a political profile not unlike the current Massachusetts Governor.
Charlie Baker, who was Weld's budget Secretary and who has already ruled out voting for Trump or Clinton, says he is a huge fan of Weld, but will not be supporting his former mentor either because he says he does not support key parts of the Libertarian party platform, "Especially with respect to their support of legalizing all drugs including cocaine and heroin."
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a Clinton supporter, says he does not think the Johnson/Weld ticket will be a threat to either Trump or Clinton, but he was not amused by a comment Trump made about Weld to the New York Times referencing Weld's comparison of Trump's immigration plan to events that took place in Nazi Germany. Trump said "I don't talk about his alcoholism, so why would he talk about my foolishly perceived fascism?"
Walsh response to Trump's statement was, "Insulting and criticizing people is not what we expect out of our leaders. I guess I expect nothing less from Donald Trump."
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In an interview, Weld dismissed the alcoholism comment from Trump saying, "We're not going to do the exchange of insults that characterized the Republican primary.
As for the Libertarian party's goals, Weld says first and foremost it is to reach 15 percent in the polls which would allow them to be part of the national debates. The latest poll already shows Johnson with 10 percent.
