Progressive Third-Party Candidate Gives Trump Edge Over Biden In Michigan

Former President Donald Trump would win Michigan if the 2024 presidential election were held today against President Joe Biden when Green Party candidate Cornel West is included on the ballot, according to a new poll released on Friday.

Michigan was a critical swing state for Trump’s 2016 victory, where he won by 0.2%, and Biden’s 2020 victory, where he won the state by 2.78%. Should Cornel West be on the ballot, he would draw votes away from Biden and enable Trump to win the state, according to the new poll conducted by Emerson College.

Trump leads with 43% of the vote in Michigan to Biden’s 41%, while Cornel West is at 4%, with 7% being undecided, according to the poll. Without West’s candidacy, Trump and Biden are tied in the state at 44%, while 5% are undecided, according to the poll.

Cornel West launched his candidacy for the presidency on June 5, initially seeking the People’s Party nomination but later joined the race for the Green Party nomination. West has long been a prominent left-wing academic and is known for his media commentary, as well as his 1993 book “Race Matters.”

Owing to his popularity, Democratic Party interests have spoken out against West’s candidacy, saying that it will lead to Trump’s election as president by drawing African-American votes and younger voters away from Biden. “[Y]ou have Cornel West, [who] I think is very formidable in the Black community and among young people,” said Celinda Lake, a pollster for Biden in 2020, to Politico.

Left-wing media outlets have also published negative stories about West. On Friday, The Daily Beast and The New Republic published a report claiming that West had not paid more than $500,000 in taxes.

Apart from West’s candidacy, another third-party, known as “No Labels,” is reportedly courting Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is facing a tough reelection campaign in his home state, to run for president as their nominee. Manchin recently attended a No Labels town hall in New Hampshire and was the primary speaker.

“Just over half of independent voters, 51%, disapprove of the job Biden is doing in office. This is a pivotal group in Michigan that Biden won over in 2020 yet is struggling with both nationally and statewide in recent surveys,” wrote Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling.

The poll was conducted between August 1-2 and surveyed 1,121 registered voters in Michigan, with an error margin of ± 2.9%.

The White House and the presidential campaigns of Biden, Trump and West did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.