Joe Biden's worst nightmare: Meet the woman who could end US President's chances of winning in 2024
Third party candidate Jill Stein has announced her presidential run which could dash President Biden’s hopes of staying in office
Reuters
Third party candidate Jill Stein has announced her presidential run which could dash President Biden’s hopes of staying in office.
Seven years ago, Stein swung the vote away from Hillary Clinton which allowed Donald Trump to take the presidential win.
However, the veteran Green campaigner said it is "preposterous" for the Democrats to complain that she is ruining Biden's chances and suggested the President is the "only one to blame".
The doctor, who has taught at Harvard Medical School, said that attacks on third-party candidates as “spoilers” were anti-democratic and a distraction from the unhappiness across the US.
Seven years ago, Stein swung the vote away from Hillary Clinton which allowed Donald Trump to take the presidential win
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She added that millions of Americans are crying out for alternatives like her.
"Joe Biden doesn’t need a third party in order to lose this election," Stein told The Times.
"Young people … are already pulling out of Biden’s campaign. They’re not coming out for him. So he’s already losing."
She last ran in 2016 and has rejected claims that she facilitated Trump’s victory as "a preposterous presumption [that] reflects the perspective of power holders who don’t want to lose their grip on power".
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She added: "In 2016, the last time I ran, we had about 1.4 [to] 1.5 million votes. In the same election, approximately seven million Democrats stopped voting Democratic and crossed over to vote for Trump because they were tired of being thrown under the bus by the Democratic Party.
"That’s the problem. You also had 100 million people who stayed home. These are the real numbers that determine the outcomes of elections rather than around the margins of what a third party has gotten.
"The powers that be want to focus on those margins to try to explain away their losses rather than confront the real problem."
Polling across the US suggests Americans want candidates other than Biden and Trump, but it is difficult for independents to get their name on the ballot paper due to varying ballot access laws from state to state.
She last ran in 2016 and has rejected claims that she facilitated Trump’s victory as 'a preposterous presumption [that] reflects the perspective of power holders who don’t want to lose their grip on power'
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She said: "I’m running to ensure that there is a very strong, pro-worker, anti-war, climate emergency agenda that’s front and centre in the discussion of the election and which is on the ballot and a choice for voters across the country."
Reacting to the suggestion that she did not have a chance at winning, she added: “What makes you think it’s not a run for the White House?
"This is what the American people are demanding.
"If you look at polls now, it’s about 63 per cent, an all-time record high of people who are saying that the two establishment parties have failed us and we need a different party that actually serves the people."