Libertarian vice presidential candidate hopeful William Weld defended his criticism of Donald Trump’s plan to round up and deport 11 million illegal immigrants, saying his comparison of Trump’s policy to the Holocaust was completely justified.
“No, no, I don’t think so,” the former Massachusetts governor said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning when asked if his statement to the New York Times that Trump’s deportation plan makes him hear “the glass crunching on Kristallnacht in the ghettoes of Warsaw,” was too strong a comparison.
“I’m absolutely certain that as we said in those years, if we don’t remember, we absolutely will forget,” Weld continued. “And you’ve got to forget a lot of things to think it’s a good idea to round up and deport 11 million people living peaceably, most of them working in America, in the middle of the night, no, not the United States. China maybe, not the United States.”
Although Weld is not yet officially on the Libertarian ticket, which will be on every ballot in November, the former Massachusetts governor has accepted the invitation to be the running mate of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the likely nominee. Weld said that he believes a libertarian ticket may appeal to “40 percent plus of the country” in this election, as so many people are dissatisfied with the choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton. But most importantly, Weld hopes that the 2016 libertarian ticket can shift the candidates’ stances on issues, such as Trump’s deportation plan.
“I’d like to ideally nudge the Democrats toward the economic center, get them away from excessive spending,” Weld explained. “I’d like to nudge the Republicans to get away from their anti-abortion stance, their queasiness with gays and lesbians being able to live openly married and peaceably, the unbelievable proposals made in the immigration area to round up and deport 11 million people. This is really not prime time, and we don’t mind saying so.”
