Washington, D.C. – Today, MoveOn Political Action highlights recent reporting from the Associated Press detailing how Republican operatives are propping up Cornel West and Jill Stein’s campaigns in key states to boost Donald Trump’s chances at the presidency.
Read the full story here: GOP network props up liberal third-party candidates in key states, hoping to siphon off Harris votes.
According to reporting, below is the long list of Republican-aligned individuals and groups boosting West’s campaign:
Paul Hamrick, who serves as counsel for the Virginia-based nonprofit People Over Party, tracked down a West elector to try and get her to recommit after she said she never agreed to be an elector in the first place.
In Georgia, Bryan Tyson, a partner at the Election Law Group, represented the state Republican Party as it tried to keep West on the ballot. The firm has received $60,000 in payments from the RNC since April.
In North Carolina, Phil Strach, a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association, successfully challenged the North Carolina State Board of Elections decision to bar West from the ballot.
In Michigan, John Bursch, a senior lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that helped overturn Roe v. Wade, fought a challenge to West’s placement on the ballot. The Michigan State Board of Canvassers is now conducting an investigation into the signatures of petition circulators.
In Pennsylvania, Matt Haverstick, a lawyer with long-standing ties to the Republican party, unsuccessfully argued in August for West to stay on the ballot.
This fresh reporting adds to previously known GOP-West collusion, including:
In Wisconsin, West accepted help from a consulting group whose president, David Blair, was the national director of Youth for Trump during the 2016 campaign and was a spokesman in the Trump administration.
In Arizona, a dozen paid operatives registered to collect signatures on West’s behalf, listing their employer as Wells Marketing—a Republican firm that recently worked for MAGA candidate Blake Masters.
Meanwhile, Trump-aligned Republicans are also boosting Jill Stein. The AP also reported that Jefferson Thomas, a Republican operative from Colorado, submitted petition signatures for Stein in New Hampshire.
This comes as little surprise, considering MAGA’s biggest celebrities, including Trump himself, have always been outspoken in their appreciation of Stein:
Megyn Kelly cheered Stein on as a spoiler: “Go, Jill, go! You go sister…We knew that she was a spoiler, but going back and reading just how big of a spoiler is interesting. In 2016, Stein drew 1.4 million votes nationally as the Green Party nominee.”
Charlie Kirk said Trump would be President today if Stein were on the ballot in 2020: “Biden's math gets messy when you introduce a Jill Stein…The Green Party was not on the ballot in 2020. It was not on the ballot in Georgia...there was no Green Party in Wisconsin. No Green Party in Pennsylvania…if the Green Party would have been on the ballot, Donald Trump would still be President.”
Steve Bannon said Stein is key to Trump’s path to victory: “The path to victory here is clearly maximizing the reach of these left-wing alternatives…No Republican knows that oil production under Biden is higher than ever. But Jill Stein’s people do. … Stein is furious about the oil drilling…The more exposure these [third-party candidates] get, the better it is for us.”
Even Stein acknowledged that Trump needs a spoiler candidate: “Trump wants a 2016 rerun.”
Donald Trump praised Stein at a rally in Pennsylvania: “Cornel West—he’s one of my favorite candidates. I like her also—Jill Stein. You know why? She takes 100% from them. He takes 100%. Kennedy—probably 50-50.”