On Tuesday, in an online discussion with two other progressive activists, left-leaning environmentalist Jill Stein officially announced her third presidential bid, opening a new front in the mounting challenges to Joe Biden’s presidency.
The 73-year-old Stein, who is vying to be the US Green Party’s nominee, is the most recent in a string of largely leftist politicians to declare their candidacies, which could weaken Biden’s base support in the anticipated rematch with Donald Trump in the poll the following year.
She had previously declared her candidacy via a video that was uploaded to X, the former Twitter. She strengthened her campaign with a live Zoom discussion with two prominent figures in the US labor movement: Miko Peled, a pro-Palestinian activist who was born in Israel, and Chris Smalls, a US trade union organizer for Amazon employees.
Stein stated, “This is all about our community standing up for our higher values.” “This political moment is entirely unprecedented.”
The selection of the protagonists seemed intended to highlight three major themes of Stein’s campaign: US support for Israel, workers’ rights, and high living expenses. Biden is vulnerable among his base on these issues.
“We’re in the target hairs on all these issues,” Stein remarked. “We must begin constructing an America that benefits all citizens, which entails a Green New Deal, an economic bill of rights, and a livable wage. We can put an end to pointless wars that yield no results.
Stein’s entry into the race is particularly significant because of her purportedly pivotal role in giving Trump the upper hand in battleground states in 2016 presidential election victory over Hillary Clinton.
Stein received more votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan than Trump did in those states, despite receiving just 1.4 million votes nationally. This led many analysts to conclude that Stein’s inclusion on the ballot was essential in shifting progressive voters away from Clinton.
In the 2012 election, Stein ran as the Green Party’s nominee. Although she received slightly over 400,000 votes nationwide, it is not believed that her performance was a deciding factor in President Barack Obama’s victory over Republican Mitt Romney.
Her bid to secure the Green Party’s 2024 candidacy comes after Cornel West, the party’s first-chosen front-runner, announced last month that he would be entering the race as an independent.
Both candidates join an expanding field of putative third-party or independent candidates as voter discontent over the possibility of a Biden-Trump rematch in the 2020 presidential contest is becoming more evident.
With the possible exception of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the late attorney general’s son, whose anti-vaccine stance may appeal to right-leaning voters, the majority of non-mainstream candidates are believed to be a bigger threat to Biden than Trump, who is predicted to secure the Republican nomination greatly ahead of the competition.
She cautioned that Biden’s backing of Israel put the world at risk of nuclear war in an interview with Newsweek. Along with calling Israel a “apartheid state,” she claimed that the country was carrying out “genocide” in Gaza, where more than 13,000 Palestinians have lost their lives since Israel began its military campaign in retaliation for Hamas’s attack.
The medical doctor Stein referred to the Republican and Democratic parties as “a threat to our democracy” in her campaign video, which was released on November 9.
She declared, “People are sick and tired of being taken advantage of by rich elites and their bought politicians.” “The political structure is flawed. A party for the people is what we need. To give the people that option, I’m running for president.
