OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Kellyanne Conway, a former member of the Trump White House staff, thinks that former President Donald Trump will have a significant advantage in the 2024 presidential election with a third-party candidate on the ballot
Conway discussed Cornel West’s announcement that he will run for president in 2024 during a Fox News appearance. Conway, who currently contributes to Fox News, said that she could envision West’s third-party bid harming President Joe Biden’s prospects of winning re-election.
Conway agreed with the premise, saying that “even if you don’t become president, you as a third party candidate spoiler can decide who is the president. This happened in 1992 when we had Bush 41 as the incumbent and a guy named Bill Clinton the Arkansas governor got elected with 43 and a half percent of the vote. Why? because Ross Perot got 19 percent of the popular vote even though he did not rack up any electoral votes.”
“If you play to win and you are Cornel West and you are still not satisfied with the trajectory of the Democratic Party being progressive enough for you under a Biden-Harris administration, then you’ll run to the left of them,” Conway said.
“Number two, he will make a play for people who feel forgotten and feel abandoned by this Democratic Party and feel like nobody is listening to them and including them. That’s part of how Trump won in 2016, but I think he can do it from the Left,” she concluded.
WATCH:
A recent Emerson College national poll found that a third-party candidate would drag Biden down in a rematch with Trump in 2024.
According to polls, respondents are evenly divided in their support for Biden and Trump, 44 percent to 43 percent. While 4% of respondents indicated they are unsure, 9% stated they would cast their ballot for a different candidate.
But if third-party candidate Cornel West is on the ballot with Trump and Biden, he garners 6% more votes, bringing Biden’s support down to 40%, only 1% below Trump’s 41 percent.
Six percent are unsure, while seven percent say they would cast their ballot for a different candidate.
“When West is added to the ballot test, he pulls 15 percent of support from Black voters, and 13 percent from voters under 35, two key voting blocs for President Biden,” said Spencer Kimball, the director of Emerson College Polling.
Cornel West defends decision to run as third party candidate, says Democratic president would only be ‘postponement of fascism’ https://t.co/h0RNICWhre If he runs he will take votes away from Biden and trump wins.
— Bob south florida water man (@WaterDean) July 8, 2023
Democrats have already voiced concerns over the possibility of a third-party spoiler candidate.
As polls indicate a rematch between Biden and Trump is inevitable, the “No Labels” movement has been laying the groundwork to introduce a “unity ticket” to run as an alternative to Democrats or Republicans. West is vying for office on the Green Party slate.
However, some political experts caution that West’s candidacy might pose a greater threat to Biden in the general election than the Democratic primary opposition from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Late last month, another poll delivered similarly concerning news to Biden.
“President Joe Biden’s job performance rating has mostly held steady for more than a year and currently stands at 44% approve vs. 56% disapprove in the latest Fox News national survey. That’s net negative by 12 points. The last time that he received positive marks was September 2021, and that was by 1 point (50%-49%),” Yahoo reported.
“Approval of the president hovers at a low point among several key voting groups, including women (43% now vs. 42% low), voters ages 45+ (41% vs. 39% low), suburban voters (41% vs. 39% low), rural voters (31% vs. 30% low) and Democrats (81% vs. 78% low) – Democratic men in particular (79% vs. 78% low). He’s at a low mark of 41% approval among suburban women,” the report added.
The poll also found that a majority of voters do not approve of Biden’s performance on these key issues: 53% disapprove on national security, 54% on foreign policy, 60% on border security, and 64% on his handling the economy.
