“She is one of the great freedom fighters of a generation, one of the great love warriors of a generation,” West told Smiley. “She loves people.”
West, a prominent activist and author, initially launched his campaign last June, seeking the Green Party nomination, before choosing to become an independent candidate.
His announcement comes as he aims to qualify for the ballot in 26 states and Washington, which require an independent presidential candidate seeking ballot access to submit the name of his running mate, according to Ballot Access News.
West’s campaign says he has met the requirements to be listed on the ballot in Alaska, Oregon, South Carolina and Utah, although election officials in those states have not yet confirmed this.
West, who declined PAC support and corporate donations, struggled to raise money. His campaign spent more than it raised in February, according to federal campaign finance reports, with $26,048 in cash and $12,938 in debt. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics also refused to approve West’s financial disclosure, a condition West would have to meet to hold office.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has criticized the candidacy of West and other third-party candidates who could play a disruptive role for President Biden’s campaign in key states.
“Even though Cornel West has announced a vice presidential nominee, our view remains the same: Only two candidates have a path to 270 electoral votes, President Biden and Donald Trump,” the Committee spokesperson said. National Democrat, Matt Corridoni, in a statement before the announcement. “The stakes are high and we know this will be a close election. That’s why a vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for Donald Trump.”
Abdullah, who is Black and Muslim, previously supported West’s 2024 bid and said Wednesday that she did not expect to be offered the vice presidential position last week. Neither candidate has previously held elected office.
“I followed him and I was really excited about his application and I was just excited to be able to share a space with him, to be inspired by him, to sit in his wisdom, and I never expected not to the phone call I received last week at all,” Abdullah said.
In several national polls, West garnered about 1 to 2 percent of voters, about the same as third-party candidate Jill Stein of the Green Party. One percent of voters said they would choose the West, compared to 11 percent for independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 41 percent for Republican nominee Trump and 43 percent for Democratic nominee Biden, according to a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted March 25. at 28.
The announcement comes about two weeks after Kennedy named his running mate, technology lawyer and megadonor Nicole Shanahan. After Shanahan’s announcement, the Kennedy campaign said it had launched new efforts to enter elections in more states after fulfilling the requirement to nominate a vice presidential candidate.
Shanahan and Abdullah, women of color in California, have already supported Democratic candidates before their independent elections.
But Abdullah gave much smaller amounts than Shanahan, who gave tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates. Abdullah had already donated $360 in 2008 to support Barack Obama, then the Democratic presidential candidate; $300 in 2012 to Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.); and $300 in 2019 to presidential candidate Julián Castro’s super PAC, according to federal campaign finance filings.
Abdullah, a professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles for over 20 years, was part of the original group of organizers who came together to form Black Lives Matter and led the chapter of Los Angeles. Abdullah has already clashed with the group’s national leaders, suing them over funds she says should have gone to local chapters. The judge threw out the case.
His activism became the target of threats, including several attempts to run him over at his home. She sued Los Angeles police after she said police forced her at gunpoint to leave her home while her children hid inside, about three months after George Floyd’s killing by police in Minneapolis. She is also suing the university after she was forcibly removed by police from a town hall debate on campus.
West has also repeatedly criticized Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war, calling on the administration to redirect spending from military aid to Israel to helping poor Americans. Abdullah has previously said that black people in America support the Palestinians.
“We understand that the liberation of Black people in the United States is linked to the liberation of Black people everywhere, and linked to the liberation of oppressed people everywhere,” Abdullah told the Washington Post in 2021. “Be the Solidarity with the Palestinian people has been part of our work as Black Lives Matter for almost as long as we have been an organization.
Earlier this year, Abdullah faced criticism over her social media posts on X, formerly Twitter, writing on Super Bowl day that she felt “it’s slightly racist to be a Taylor Swift fan” . She also criticized Beyoncé’s use of the American flag on the cover of a recent album, saying the flag “symbolizes the genocide of indigenous peoples, the theft of their lands, slavery, dehumanization and exploitation of Black people, as well as settler colonialism.”
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