Former Obama advisor David Axelrod says Cornel West's presidential candidacy could swing the 2024 election to Trump
- Former Obama advisor David Axelrod said that Cornel West could flip the 2024 election to Trump.
- Axelrod brought up the 2016 election, as many Democrats feel Jill Stein cost Hillary Clinton the race.
Former White House senior advisor David Axelrod on Friday said that academic Cornel West's 2024 presidential campaign could siphon votes from President Joe Biden and throw the election to former President Donald Trump.
Neither Biden and Trump have wrapped up their respective party nominations, but if both men compete against each other in a rematch of the 2020 election, Axelrod — who worked under former President Barack Obama — fears that West could sap critical support from Biden in what might be another close contest.
"In 2016, the Green Party played an outsized role in tipping the election to Donald Trump," Axelrod tweeted, pointing to Jill Stein's candidacy in the contest featuring Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Now, with Cornel West as their likely nominee, they could easily do it again. Risky business."
Many Democrats have accused Stein of costing Clinton key support in Wisconsin and Michigan in 2016; Trump won both states narrowly that year, disrupting decades of Democratic dominance at the presidential level.
Biden flipped both states back into the Democratic column in 2020, and holding those states will be critical for the party's chances of retaining the White House in 2024.
West is running a progressive campaign seeking the Green Party nomination. His platform is centered on economic justice and could realistically cut into Biden's support among the youth vote and Black voters.