WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, MoveOn Political Action called out Cornel West and his campaign for again working with shady Republican operatives to get on the ballot. In Virginia, West’s campaign was caught lying to Commonwealth voters and collecting signatures under the false pretense of getting “Donald Trump off the ballot.” According to NBC Washington, “The group’s leader said he was handing off the signed petitions to the state Republican Party.”

This bombshell comes just weeks after learning that the West campaign received help from Trump operatives in North Carolina to get on the ballot and after Donald Trump praised West, saying he “takes 100%” from Biden.

“Working with Trump operatives and MAGA stooges is unacceptable and undermines the decades of work Dr. West has contributed to our society as a theologian, scholar, and firebrand political activist,” said MoveOn Chief Communications Officer Joel Payne. “Donald Trump has made his intentions known, and he has no qualms about appropriating third-party campaigns, including West’s, for his own benefit. As a man of principle, Dr. West needs to read the writing on the wall and see that if his campaign continues to play spoiler to Biden, it will only move us perilously closer to a second Trump presidency that will undermine our democracy.” 

BACKGROUND:

• According to documents obtained by NBC, the Justice for All Party authorized three people to pick up and drop off signatures for them in North Carolina, a state that’s already expected to be a tight race for President Joe Biden. 
• All three individuals are current or past employees of a Colorado-based Republican political firm called Blitz Canvassing, which has generated more than $14.6 million in payments for Never Back Down, the main Super PAC that supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 
• The slew of “volunteers” that Blitz recruited have been gathering outside Trump events in North Carolina, asking voters to sign the petitions to siphon votes from President Joe Biden to boost Trump’s chances.