Weld: Romney ‘thinking about’ endorsing Libertarian ticket
By State House News Service | July 29, 2016, 6:43 EDT
(AP photo) Last cycle’s Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney may be considering an endorsement of the Libertarian ticket that includes another former Republican governor of Massachusetts, Govs. Gary Johnson and Bill Weld told CNN on Thursday.
Johnson and Weld, the Libertarian presidential and vice presidential nominees, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer during a live interview in Philadelphia that they have spoken with Romney and believe he may be considering a formal endorsement of their ticket.
“I think he’s considering the possibility of doing this…actually endorsing the two of us,” Johnson said.
Romney, the former one-term governor of Massachusetts, has been a vocal critic of GOP nominee Donald Trump. In a clip of an interview with Blitzer in June from Utah, Romney said, “If Bill Weld were at the top of the ticket it would be very easy for me to vote for Bill Weld for president.”
Romney said he did not know Johnson as well and planned to “look at what he has to say.”
Johnson said the two men have spoken since, and Weld said, “He’s thinking about it, Wolf, and I don’t want to press the point unless and until we get to 15 percent because then I think the case is overwhelming.”
Both Johnson and Weld said climbing in the polls to 15 percent to allow them to get on the debate stage with Democrat Hillary Clinton and Trump is critical to their chances of being a viable third-party option for voters in November.
The Johnson-Weld ticket received 5 percent support in a Suffolk University poll of likely Pennsylvania general election voters taken this week.
Weld, who left the Republican Party to run with Johnson, said their ticket has also picked up endorsements from several in the Bush family, including former President George W. Bush’s brother Marvin Bush and cousin Jonathan Bush, who is the co-founder and CEO of the Watertown-based athenahealth.
“He’s all in, he says,” Weld said of Jonathan Bush, who the governor said has provided financial support for their campaign. Weld said he and Johnson are also “hopeful” that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who clashed with Trump during the primary campaign before withdrawing, will support their ticket.
— Written by Matt Murphy
Copyright State House News Service
