Cornel West’s third-party presidential campaign is raising concerns among the Democratic Party.
West, a philosopher, recently declared he registered with the Green Party for his campaign.
“This is not the time in order to experiment,” said DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison.
Harrison noted, “This is not the time to play around on the margins.”
The chairman added, “What we see is a lot of folks who want to be relevant and try to be relevant in these elections and not looking at the big picture,” emphasizing that the Democrats have “got to reelect Joe Biden.”
Part of the Democrats’ concerns revolves around a similar incident that occurred in 2016, as many blamed Green Party nominee Jill Stein for Hillary Clinton’s loss.
“In 2016, the Green Party played an outsized role in tipping the election to Donald Trump,” according to former President Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod.
“Now, with Cornel West as their likely nominee, they could easily do it again. Risky business,” Axelrod expressed.
Reporting from The Hill:
Democrats are just starting to express concerns about West after previously ignoring his newly formed campaign. So far, he’s had some defenders. West, a surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2020 and a former Harvard scholar, has been praised by those who share the progressive senator’s worldview, mostly for the activist-minded spirit he brings and his commitment to leftist ideology. ... It’s still very early in the cycle, but a sizable number of voters — 44 percent — are willing to contemplate a third-party presidential candidate, according to an NBC News poll released in late June.
