People’s Party presidential candidate Cornel West, a progressive activist, went after President Biden Thursday, referring to him as “mediocre” and “milquetoast” in his first interview since announcing his long-shot third-party run for the White House.
Appearing on KBLA’s Tavis Smiley podcast, West pushed back on the notion his candidacy was potentially “pulling votes away from Biden” and laid into the Democratic Party for its candidate choices.
“When somebody chooses to vote for you, you’re not pulling votes away. You see, Biden doesn’t own any votes. He’s got to earn it. He’s got to earn it,” West said.
PROGRESSIVE ACTIVIST CORNEL WEST ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL RUN UNDER THIRD PARTY
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President Joe Biden and People’s Party presidential candidate Cornel West. (Getty Images)
“If they produced a candidate that spoke to the needs of precious poor and working-class folk, they wouldn’t have me. They wouldn’t have to deal with that,” West said. “They’ve got a corporate wing of the Democratic Party that does not treat the progressive wing right. It’s shown over and over again.”
“You know, I supported Bernie [Sanders] twice. I supported Biden the last time. I did because I thought that Trump’s fascism was such that we had to fight. Does that mean that we’re choosing between a neo-fascist catastrophe and a neoliberal disaster? That every Democratic president can say, ‘I’m not almighty, but I am the alternative. You all have no other choice to vote for me.’ And then when he gets in there, he wouldn’t be in there if it wasn’t for Black folks, especially Black women,” he added.
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Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
