Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Cornel West doesn\u2019t want to hear the word spoiler.<\/p>\n
The public intellectual turned independent presidential candidate was a (sort of) supporter of President Joe Biden in 2020. Now, he\u2019s trying to get to the White House himself \u2014 and he insists his presence in the race is more than just being a complicating factor for President Joe Biden\u2019s reelection bid<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI say, \u2018this is what I have to offer.’ If you’re not convinced, and you see me as a spoiler, then you don’t vote for me,\u201d West said on Thursday. \u201cIf you ended up viewing me as a spoiler when you really should have \u2014 or wanted to \u2014 vote for Biden, you vote for Biden then. \u201d<\/p>\n West stopped by POLITICO HQ on Thursday for a wide-ranging, hour-plus conversation on everything from his path to the ballot to the crisis currently facing American higher education.<\/p>\n For today\u2019s Q&A, here is a snippet of the conversation focused on the 2024 election and West\u2019s place in it. He argued to POLITICO that his candidacy was more than just a spoiler for Biden \u2014 and said his campaign is working to get on the ballot<\/a> in dozens of states.<\/p>\n This conversation has been edited for brevity (significantly) and clarity.<\/p>\n I want to know how long you have been considering running for president, and running for president as an independent<\/a> or in a third-party capacity.<\/p>\n When it comes to my deciding, that was surprising to me. I\u2019ve often said you’ll find me in a crack house before you find me in the White House. I\u2019ve said that on many occasions, because there\u2019s more corruption in the White House \u2026 I don’t care which party is in there.<\/p>\n So when I said that, you say \u2018oh, now you change your mind?\u2019 Absolutely right. I changed my mind. Why did I change my mind? When I looked up, I saw the legacy that produced me, the tradition from which I come, not being represented: Who’s been there for poor people? \u2026 Who’s been there for mass incarceration? Who is concerned with imperial policies?<\/p>\n So how many states do you think you\u2019ll be on the ballot in?<\/p>\n We\u2019ll be on 15 by the Ides of March. We should be on about 30 in the early summer and we hope about 40 or so by November.<\/p>\n So not all 50?<\/p>\n We\u2019re after all 50. But we might not. The corporate duopoly is just so entrenched. It\u2019s unbelievable. I mean, New York? \u2026 I know we have some serious uphill work to do.<\/p>\n What is the electorate that you’re going to pull in? Which Trump voters are you pulling in? Which Biden voters?\u00a0<\/p>\n One crucial bloc is the youth vote: 18 to 29. More than two-thirds don\u2019t want either. \u2026 I’ve discovered over time that the youth vote is disproportionately concerned about the ecological crisis in a way that so many of the older folk are not. \u2026 The youth vote is deeply concerned about the failed promises of Biden on student loans. The youth vote has a certain openness to the cross-cultural, multicultural, cross-racial sensibility.<\/p>\n But I’m not just about the youth vote. We got the Black vote. We got our trade union vote \u2014 we meet with the Teamsters later today \u2026 And now we’re going to Detroit on Tuesday for \u2018Arabs for West.\u2019 With the Gaza situation, a whole host of Arab brothers and sisters saying, \u2018you know, we got behind Biden and look what he’s given us.\u2019<\/p>\n Is that enough people to win?<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to say.<\/p>\n There is a long history of people who are viewed as spoilers. Do you worry about that? Do you think you could be a spoiler instead of a winner?<\/p>\n I don’t accept the spoiler category. I really don’t. A vote for Biden, a vote for Trump is a vote for Biden and a vote for Trump. And there may be slices of people who say \u2018if I didn’t vote for West, I would have voted for Biden.\u2019 But that’s not, to me, a spoiler. If you\u2019re in the race, and you make a case and they vote for you, how do you become the spoiler?<\/p>\n Are you more concerned about former President Trump winning than a second Biden term? I just want to make sure that assumption is true.<\/p>\n I\u2019m more concerned about Trump domestically. I\u2019m more concerned about Biden in terms of foreign policy. \u2026 I just refuse to choose between that alternative gangsta option.<\/p>\n [Editor\u2019s note: Earlier in the conversation, he called \u201cbrother Trump\u201d a \u201cneo-fascist pied piper leading the country to a second civil war.\u201d He added that \u201cI see brother Biden as a milquetoast neoliberal with military adventurism, possibly leading the world to World War III.\u201d]<\/p>\n So did you vote for Biden in 2020?<\/p>\n No.<\/p>\n Who did you vote for?<\/p>\n I voted for some revolutionary when I got in there. Now I had publicly supported Biden, but when I got in there I couldn\u2019t do it. \u2026 I wouldn\u2019t do it to my brothers in the mass incarceration regime, who view Biden as the architect \u2026 Even though I publicly supported him, because I wanted to be part of an anti-facist coalition \u2026 when I got in there, I don\u2019t know if it was the Holy Ghost, something hit me.<\/p>\n You talked about supporting Biden publicly and then not voting for him. How is that different from other politicians you\u2019ve railed against?<\/p>\n I’m living in Cambridge. And I knew that Massachusetts was going to go Democratic no matter what. \u2026 It was just tension, you live in the midst of tension. \u2026 If I had been in Wisconsin, Florida, I would have felt something different.<\/p>\n This interview first appeared in POLITICO Pro\u2019s Morning Score newsletter.\u00a0Sign up for POLITICO Pro<\/a>.<\/p>\n