Risky business.
Former senior
adviser to President
Obama, David Axelrod, warning
Biden could be facing a third party
spoiler, specifically
from Green Party candidate Cornel West.
Axelrod tweeting, quote, In 2016,
the Green Party played an outsized role
in tipping the election to Donald Trump.
Now, with Cornel West
as their likely nominee,
they could easily do it again.
Risky business.
This comes
as less
than 40% of Americans say they view Biden
or Trump favorably.
Almost one in four voters, in fact,
say they don't like either candidate,
which is a key part of Cornel West pitch
I just thought about all the creative,
imaginative, courageous
fellow citizens that I meet
and how do we end up
with the two candidates
Trump, on the one hand.
Biden on the other.
Good with Brother Trump. You got
a gangster in the objective sense.
And with Biden again,
I love the brother, but he's a hypocrite
and he's pushing toward World War Three.
When you talk about
what he has to say
about China and Russia.
OUTFRONT now,
Republican strategist, former
Republican candidate for U.S.
Senate and Basil Smikle
Democratic strategist,
former executive director
of the New York State Democratic Party.
Gentlemen.
Nice to see both of you tonight.
You were both sort of nodding
your heads as we were playing
that sound from Cornel West,
which was so interesting.
He's been a major figure
in progressive politics for some time.
So now we see where he's going.
This recent NBC News
poll really stood out to me.
45% of Democrats
say they'd consider backing
a third party candidate.
Compare that to 34% of Republicans.
How concerned do you think
Joe Biden should be tonight?
He should be a little concerned
and I would say this is my affinity with
Cornel West is my frat brother.
I got my Ph.D.
in part because I was
drawn intellectually
to the heft of his scholarship.
So he resonates
and he has resonated,
particularly
with the African-American community
for quite some time,
for decades, frankly.
So if you're Joe Biden, you know,
this is likely to be a close race,
whether it's
DeSantis or Trump, whoever it is,
that it's those margins in some states,
in a handful of states
where this third party
candidate could be effective
particularly when you look at 20, 22,
you see the numbers,
especially in the African-American
community, were not
where the Democrats needed them to be.
So if there is concern about how close
the general election
might be with memories
of Jill Stein from 2016
this is going to this should concern
Biden and
Democrats a little
bit based on the issues
that Cornel West will be able to address.
So a little bit of a concern for Biden
the Democrats.
What about for the Republicans.
Well look
I think for me personally
if Democrats
seem to think that Cornel West
is the problem
and they don't seem to recognize
why they lost to President
Trump in 2016 in the first place
it certainly was
not because of Joe Stein.
It was
because there was a blue collar revolt
from people
who felt as if the Democratic Party
had left them behind.
And so for me,
whether you're a Republican
or a Democrat,
you see somebody like Cornel West
who politics aside
has dedicated his life to justice.
The only thing
they should have to say to him is
thank you.
And instead of
they send
somebody like David
Axelrod,
the architect of the Obama generation,
to go out there and take the hatchet
and to try to marginalize him,
which I think, again, plays
into exactly everything
he's talking about, that this is a party
that is more concerned with the status
quo in the air, with the safety
and security
of black and brown communities.
And I would also say
that we can't forget
that this is the same Cornel West
that, again, was ostracized
because you wanted to support
somebody like Bernie Sanders
that wanted to push
a little further,
was ostracized
because he wanted to have a black State
of the Union.
Back with Tavis Smiley to talk about
what was rightfully owed
to a black community
that came out in record numbers
to help elect the first black president.
So, again, for me,
it just confirms what many believe
is the Democratic Party
seemingly has forgotten
about what they claim
is their core conviction,
trying to make sure
they can deliver results
to multigenerational poverty and despair
for the people
that effectively
are the bedrock of that party.
You know, it's interesting.
I was struck today
the fact that Cornel West, who we know
was a major surrogate,
obviously for Bernie
Sanders, so was Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
who today
said she's supporting Joe Biden.
Take a listen.
I think
I think he's done quite well,
given the limitations that we have.
I do think that there are ebbs and flows.
Will you be supporting
Joe Biden for reelection?
I believe, given that feel, yes.
How significant is it that she is
saying that at this stage right now?
It's incredibly significant
because in some ways
it pulls a lot of her supporters
in the direction of Joe Biden
and away from thinking
that maybe we should be
looking at somebody else like Joe Biden.
We should be looking at Cornel,
we should look at the corner of the job.
A lot of folks will argue
Joe Biden's numbers are soft.
I don't think there is necessarily
a concern
that a lot of voters
will go and vote for Cornel West,
but it may tamp down turnout
because you don't have
that sort of movement
candidate in a Joe Biden.
And to everything
he said
is absolutely right
in terms of communities of color,
particularly for the black
and brown communities
that Cornel West speaks
to a lot of those concerns.
Joe Biden needs to take some of that
on the campaign trail.
So to that point
that you're both making She was
then asked about Cornel West
and she referenced that.
So I think we have that sound as well.
Do you make a Cornel West campaign?
You know, I think Dr.
West has
an incredible history in this country.
What he fights for,
what he gives voice to
is incredibly important.
And the ability
for us
to talk about issues that,
frankly, mainstream
Democrats are often too afraid to touch.
I mean, Joe,
that's essentially you were saying
I mean and I mean, you're
both agreeing with each other, right?
So what is the potential
not just for Cornel West
to maybe peel away
some of those voters
and maybe even beyond people of color
talking about working class voters
full stop
in this country who are looking for
somebody to talk about their issues?
Could he also pull some away from
if it's a Donald Trump as the nominee?
Well, look,
you see, even now
with somebody like RFK, Joe,
who is starting to attract some traction
from some Republican voters.
So there is a fervor in America
for people who are willing to speak
to the populist ambitions of the nation.
But also the core bedrock
actual deficiencies
within our Main Street construct.
So, yes, I think if Dr.
West was being wise,
he'd probably just abandon
everything he's doing everywhere
and move to Iowa.
There's a long tradition of grassroots,
grassroots support,
particularly more in the populous
and more liberal
leaning bent
in those Democratic caucuses.
So he should be going
to all 99 of those counties
and then go back again,
then go back again.
The South Carolina primary
has already been rigged.
Certainly Democrats
trying to figure out
where they're going to move it up
or leave it where it is.
So there's not a lot of oxygen there
where, again, they say they know, Joe.
I think that's
where he could have some impact.
But I think to your bet, to your point,
there is a broad consensus
from all Americans
that we want to have
somebody that speaks to the fact
that we're spending wars, money
on wars abroad.
We're not dealing with
the fact that we've got public housing
and crisis here at home.
And if I just said very quickly,
there needs to
there needs to be line
I think AOC was speaking to this
for a Bernie Sanders type candidate,
someone who's going to pull the party
and hold Democrats
and hold them accountable
for a lot of those issues that we haven't
necessarily talked about.
But if you look at what
Bernie Sanders did,
look at the impact
he's had on
how we've talked about college
and college affordability today,
how we talked about health care.
There needs to be that voice
in this conversation.
And if Cornel West
is going to play any part in this,
that's the voice.
That's the line that I think he occupies.
And to your point about the South
Carolina primary,
what Joe Biden can do,
since that's likely
the first primary is start
talking about those issues
early, set the tone
and hope that that carries
into the general election.
But speaking on it once,
letting it go, not addressing it again
is a losing proposition.
And that's
and that's why
you see
so many more African-American men bit
by bit slowly
moving to the right,
because I think
at some point
they're willing to consider alternatives
because they feel
as if their needs have been neglected
for so long.
Joe Fessio,
great to have you both
in the studio tonight. Thank you so much.