Libertarian VP candidate Weld urges swing-state voters to pick Clinton

Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld is urging swing-state voters to cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton on Election Day.

The former Massachusetts governor has said he still hopes his constituents in his solidly blue home state will back the Libertarian party, but on Monday he switched to an anything-but-Trump rhetoric during a rally at Boston’s Faneuil Hall.

“We do want people to vote Libertarian, but I understand that in a very close swing state, there may be different dynamics at play,” he said.

Weld said his first choice would be to see himself and running mate Gary Johnson in the White House, but recognized that no polls suggest they’ll get anywhere close.

Real Clear Politics has the Libertarian ticket polling about 4.8 percent.

“I hope Gary Johnson and Bill Weld win the presidential election, but if we don’t, I hope Hillary Clinton does,” he said.

Weld said he is hoping the Libertarian ticket gains at least 5 percent of the vote nationwide on Tuesday, which would hit the threshold to tap into federal election funds. The former governor said he advises everyone in Massachusetts—a safe state for Clinton—to vote Libertarian.

“In a way, it’s a vote of conscience,” Weld said. He expressed a hands-off attitude toward telling others in his party how to vote, saying, “I’m going to support Libertarian voters no matter what they do. We’re Libertarians. We don’t really tell people what they have to do.”

Statehouse News Service contributed to this article.