The presidential candidate from the left, Cornel West, has alleged that Kamala Harris tried to persuade him to withdraw from the race by offering him a position in her administration and a commitment to settle his campaign debts.
This claim was made during an interview with independent journalist Jordan Chariton on the Status Coup News podcast, following the conclusion of last week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
HOST: What were, you know, the offers that they made and your response?
WEST: Well, I mean a number of them reached out just saying I need to get on the bandwagon — this is a historic moment, especially a black moment … I told them, I said you all just talking to the wrong brother. You can offer resources or position or what have you — that’s that’s not what I’m all about. That’s not the game I play…
HOST: Can you specify, if you can, you mentioned offering positions, resources. Were you offered a position in the Harris administration? Any financial incentives to drop out?
WEST: Oh, I mean there was definitely various kind of offers. I won’t go into concrete details of it — I really won’t, because I don’t I — I don’t even want to make that the focus of the interview…
HOST: Let’s let’s just say they did not offer you the janitor’s position they offered you something relatively high up.
WEST: Well, I don’t think it was that high up,
HOST: Did they, just one more on this , did they offer you did they offer you a cabinet position, a lower position and offer to pay off any of your campaign debt?
WEST: Well, they offered serious, substantive conversation about all of those that could lead toward some real [unintelligible].
Earlier in the week, a judge in Michigan made a ruling that allows West to be included on the state’s presidential ballot.
This has raised significant concerns for the Harris campaign, as they are worried about potential backlash from the state’s sizable Muslim population due to her position on the conflict in Gaza.
Despite efforts from the Democratic Party to prevent it, West has already secured ballot access in several key swing states such as Wisconsin, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
Some of West’s policy ideas include advocating for universal healthcare, opposing all military involvement, supporting reparations for black individuals, and calling for defunding police departments nationwide.