Cornel West’s campaign exposing right-wing trickery as it implodes

Cornel West’s presidential campaign appears to be combusting — and, in the process, exposing some mischievous inner workings.

The unaffiliated West was disqualified from appearing on the ballot in Michigan last week over notary issues and amid concerns about the authenticity of the signatures he acquired. Now, The Associated Press reports that West has been disqualified in Arizona, as well — but the story of the last-ditch effort to keep West on the ballot out there speaks to the dubiousness of his MAGA-fueled campaign. 

The report explains how conservative activists tried to coordinate electors willing to help West get on ballots this November in an apparent effort to pull potential liberal votes from the Democratic candidate. This follows an NBC News report in June claiming operatives aligned with Republicans had been working to obtain signatures to qualify West in various states. 

Per The Associated Press:

As a deadline loomed to submit the needed paperwork, two well-known Republican lawyers in [Arizona] and a GOP attorney working to get West on the ballot elsewhere learned that two of their would-be electors — Jerry Judie and Denisha Mitchell — were not interested in fulfilling the role. The electors’ decisions led to a barrage of text messages and phone calls looking to keep the operation alive. When those efforts failed, two Republican lawyers visited Judie’s and Mitchell’s homes, seemingly seeking to persuade them to reconsider.

Late last week, Mitchell claimed her signature had been “forged” on documents identifying her as a potential elector for West. The latest AP report says attorney Paul Hamrick spoke with Judie via phone and that well-known conservative lawyers Amanda Reeve and Brett Johnson were captured on surveillance footage visiting Judie’s home after he allegedly backed out of an offer to support West as an elector. The Associated Press describes the attempt to recruit electors for West as what “appears to be part of a broader effort by conservative activists and Republican-aligned operatives across the country to push West’s candidacy and subvert the integrity of the ballot in the months leading up to November’s presidential election.”

Hamrick told the AP that the allegations against him are “false,” while the two other lawyers didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

The conservative chicanery being alleged has always seemed highly likely, considering how West’s campaign began. When West launched his presidential bid last year, I explained his campaign’s curious ties to the conservative movement, including his praise for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ultraconservative education agenda, his association with right-wing conspiracy theorist Russell Brand, and the fact he initially launched his bid as a member of the far-right-friendly People’s Party. That West received a maximum donation from conservative megadonor Harlan Crow — and returned it after facing backlash — only added to the suspicion. 

And Trump, for the record, is acutely aware that long-shot, ostensibly liberal candidates such as West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein being in the race only helps him.

But now, more than ever, we’re seeing the lengths conservatives have been willing to travel to prop up West, with hopes they can use him to help Trump win.