Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, said that he agrees with 73 percent of what Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) says, citing that libertarians agree with socialism as long as it's voluntary.
On Tuesday, a caller from Arkansas on CSPAN's Washington Journal questioned Johnson about Sanders, saying that people she knows want Sanders to win the nomination. She suggested that Johnson and Sanders could sit down together.
This was after she called Johnson a Republican, and Johnson said he wanted to "draw a line of distinction" between being a Republican and being a Libertarian.
"I would really like to see him [Johnson] and William Weld stand behind Bernie Sanders, maybe sit down and talk to him and group together because there's a whole lot of people out here that want Bernie Sanders to win the nomination and if he's not in the nomination, I'm sure you'd take home the prize," the caller from Arkansas said. "If you had all the ideas Bernie Sanders has and three-quarters of America have."
William Weld, Johnson's running mate, was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997.
Johnson then brought up the website ISideWith.com, on which the Libertarian Party has purchased ads to promote its petition to add Johnson to the presidential debate stage.
This website is a political quiz consisting of 60 questions that collectively determine which presidential candidate the person most aligns with. Johnson said that after siding 100 percent with himself, the next closest candidate he sides with is Sanders at 73 percent.
"But interestingly, of all the presidential candidates, I next side with Bernie Sanders at 73 percent," he said.
He then justified these findings to the audience.
"Now, that's the side of Bernie that has to do with pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, let's stop with the military interventions, that there is crony capitalism, that government really isn't fair when it comes to this level playing field, legalize marijuana," he said. "Look, 73 percent of what Bernie says I agree with. We come to a T in the road when it comes to economics. I would really argue that if we absolutely had a fair system of economics, that free markets, that we would do a lot better than going down the– going down the path of socialism."
He then went on to say that libertarians agree with socialism, as long as it's voluntary.
"And look, libertarians agree with socialism as long as it's voluntary," he said. "But, when it's forced, that's tyranny. So, that's the libertarian perspective, but I think there's so much in common, that just factually speaking ... take a look, Bernie Sanders supporters, at who you next side with."