Source: Julie Dermansky / Getty
Regardless of whether you loved him or were one of the many who loathed him, Donald Trump’s historic two-term presidency made one thing very clear about American politics: with the right influence and resources, anybody can become the next U.S. President.
That’s why it’s become sort of a who’s-who over on The Hill for the past few years when it comes to the political hopefuls looking to either run against incumbent President Joe Biden in the 2024 Election or in his place as the Democratic nominee on the slight chance that he physically can’t or rethinks his decision to run for re-election. Names like Al Sharpton and even current VP Kamala Harris were thrown out there as suggestions prior to Biden’s official announcement back in April, and the GOP is already packing it on heavy with confirmed campaigns from Nikki Haley, Mike Pence and, yes, another attempt from Trump.
However, there’s one extra addition to the list of potential candidates that will be running on behalf of the newly-formed People’s Party: veteran intellectual and social critic Dr. Cornel West!
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Clearly more qualified than another Mr. West with eyes set on 2024 presidency, the 70-year-old American philosopher said of his decision to run for office, “In these bleak times, I have decided to run for truth and justice which takes the form of running for President of the United States as a candidate for the People’s Party,” continuing by adding, “I enter in the quest for truth, I enter in the quest for justice, and the presidency is just one vehicle to pursue that truth and justice — what I’ve been trying to do all my life.”
Putting his focus on developing access to jobs with livable wages, decent housing, women’s rights and universal healthcare to start things off, Dr. West made it clear that he is not here for “fascist” GOPs like Trump or “neoliberal” Dems like Biden. “Neither political party wants to tell the truth about Wall Street, about Ukraine, about the Pentagon [and]about Big Tech,” he said in the campaign announcement video, later ending his message by sternly adding, “Some of us are going to go down fighting, go down swinging, with style and a smile.”
While his stance is one of valiant nature, some have questioned whether it will truly be effective. You have the handful who think his efforts will do nothing more than split the general vote and give Republicans the advantage to reclaim office. Others simply believe he’d do more justice as part of the newer Green Party, confusing his allegiance with the original People’s Party of the late 1800s that was last active with the presidential run of Thomas E. Watson in 1908. West is actually part of The Movement for a People’s Party, formed back in 2017 and as “a major new political party free of corporate money and influence.”
Dr. West’s decades of academia, including teaching tenures at Harvard, Princeton and most recently Union Theological Seminary in West Harlem, easily qualify him in terms of intellect. If we’re talking activism, well, he gets A’s across the board for tirelessly advocating for civil rights since his teenage years in the late ’60s. What could prove to be a problem is his strong stance on all things race, stark critiques of political colleagues like Barack Obama, or, quite frankly, his abrasive and oftentimes “preachy” approach to pretty much everything.
Could the fight Dr. Cornel West stands for be just what this country needs, or are we better off without all the racial theatrics?
Keep scrolling to see some interesting opinions on social media regarding Dr. Cornell West joining the 2024 presidential election, and let us know what you think of his overall chances:
1. Black folks and white liberals getting ready to drag Cornel West
via @GeauxGabrielle
2. The last time anyone heard from Cornel West, he was blasting Obama during his poverty bus tour w Tavis Smiley- just before the 2012 election. During the Trump years, he was nowhere to be found. Now he’s launching a presidential bid to oppose Biden.
via @TDanger19
3. Why is Cornel West running for this reactionary right-wing “party”
via @marionumber4
4. Cornel West hasnt been relevant to any one but white leftists for 25 years 🙄 The culture evolved, and he refused to.
via @Drea_got_rage
5. Cornel West has every right to run for President. If he GENUINELY wanted to win, he’d try to get the nomination of a major party by convincing the majority of voters he offered solutions others didn’t. Instead, this is a transparent attempt to submarine Democrats. Period.
via @darryn_briggs
6. Dr. Cornel West is the first big name with the balls to run outside the two party duopoly Also the only candidate thus far who strongly stands with the Palestinian people
via @SocialistMMA
7. I can’t take seriously any black man who’s been married five times to five white women. #CornelWest
via @TasetiReloaded
8. Cornel West has previously praised “Brother Trump” for his “authenticity” and wrote a recent op-ed lauding DeSantis as a “revolutionary defender of the classics”. It’s not even 2024 and I’m already tired.
via @StarSurgeonMD
9. I see folks crying over Dr. Cornel West running for president saying it takes away from Joe Biden. Lol. It’s about time for us to move away from this two party system. We need independence because both corporately owned parties care nothing about the actual voters. Especially black folks! I’m sick of Democrats making people vote in FEAR of republicans instead of FOR an agenda that’s best for us. #Tired
via @JaymalGreen
10. In case you forgot what Cornel West’s stance was on Hillary in 2016, it was this. “Authentic Trump” gave us a 30yr Trump Supreme Court, Roe gone, 1.3M dead in a pandemic he refused to control,relentless assaults on women, LGBTQ,disabled and poor, plus full-on white nationalism.
via @VABVOX
11. Look…next time, would someone please give Cornel West a ticket to the inauguration…this temper tantrum has gone on for over a decade now… Or maybe Dr. West can just grow up?
via @ChitownKev
12. Dr. Cornel West running for president outside of the duopoly is not what I had in my election BINGO card, yet here we are. This is going to be INTERESTING.
via @Jaybefaunt
13. I admire Cornel West greatly, but him running third party helps the Republicans. It will only help secure a Trump or DeSantis presidency.
via @johnpavlovitz
14. Cornel West For President This will be the first and last time I vote. 😎 @CornelWest 2024
via @LupeFiasco
15. I love Cornel West. Just not to be president of the USA. Because, why as a leftist, do you want to assume the role of the leader of racial capitalism? Something has to be a lie. Either the leftism is wrong, or you’re not a leftist afterall. Lol
via @TendentiousG
