MAGA Operatives Have Boosted Third-Party Candidates to Help Donald Trump

Trump allies publicly stated they were plotting to spoil the election against President Biden by backing third-party candidates, including West, Jill Stein, and RFK Jr. Across the country, they’re using dirty tricks to swindle voters and boost Donald Trump and siphon votes from the Harris-Walz ticket.

“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.”  – Donald Trump

Here’s how MAGA operatives have boosted the campaigns of spoiler candidates: 

Jill Stein 

• GOP operatives helped Stein get on the New Hampshire ballot.
• Jill Stein paid $100,000 to MAGA operative and January 6 insurrectionist Trent Pool. 
• In Nevada, the Green Party is seeking reinstatement on the ballot, with representation by Jay Sekulow, an attorney who represented Trump during his impeachment trials.
• Stein accepted legal representation from Michael D. Dean, a Wisconsin lawyer involved in lawsuits attempting to overturn the 2020 election results on behalf of Trump. 
• A Wisconsin Republican Super PAC, Badger Values PAC, is spending big money to boost Jill Stein. Founded by a longtime Republican operative with ties to Senate GOP leadership, the PAC reported spending $982,905 on ads in October, including at least $307,000 on ads or direct mailers that mention Stein.
• MAGA activist and GOP operative Scott Presler said it was a personal goal to get Stein on the ballot in Pennsylvania.

Cornel West

• 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. 
• Cornel West’s Justice for All Party authorized three people to pick up and drop off signatures for them in North Carolina. 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. 
• 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.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

• Trump’s biggest donor, Timothy Mellon, was boosting RFK Jr.’s campaign with millions in contributions. Since 2023, he has given $50 million to PACs supporting both RFK Jr. and Trump.
• In North Carolina, RFK Jr. and Cornel West are accused of ​​“misleading” voters who signed their petitions and violating a state law that requires newly formed political parties to tell signers what the general purpose and intent of their party is. 
• In Delaware, RFK Jr. is working with the Independent Party of Delaware (IPD), which has known ties to extremist, right-wing individuals. Its vice chairman, Phil Dyer, attended the riot at the Capitol on January 6 and recently called for another. 
• Before dropping out, RFK Jr. relied on the “Natural Law Party” of Michigan, which nominated RFK Jr. at a two-person convention led by a part-time magician, while leaders from the same party’s Florida branch called RFK Jr.’s campaign “scammers.”