At the beginning of December, Forbes magazine ran a long, paywalled article on Cornel West’s personal money problems (four ex-wives, multiple children, hundreds of thousands in unpaid taxes). Other ‘major media’ outlets don’t seem to have picked up the thread, but LGM had what seems like a pretty comprehensive extract: This sublime and funky and …
Late Night Open Thread: Cornel West Has Found A New ‘Constituency’Post + Comments (126)
… The independent candidate campaigned in Michigan this week to offer Arab American voters angry over the Israel-Hamas conflict a new political home in 2024. In Dearborn, a majority Arab American suburb of Detroit, West hosted several roundtable meetings with donors, local political organizers and Muslim community leaders, who wanted to hear West’s positions on Gaza.
The day on the campaign trail began with West promising he would ask the International Criminal Court to investigate potential war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces in a press release. During multiple roundtable discussions, the university professor called Israel an “apartheid state.” And West accused the U.S. government of supporting a “genocide” of the Palestinian people.
“I don’t call it the Palestinian problem, or the Palestinian question,” West said at a luncheon with Arab American donors and business leaders in Dearborn. “It’s a catastrophe.”
Losing just a fraction of Michigan voters who supported President Joe Biden in 2020 could scramble the presidential election in 2024. Biden won the state narrowly last cycle — and the margin was even closer when Donald Trump took it in 2016. And the Israel-Hamas war is opening a channel for West to collect unsatisfied voters…
The day capped off with a rally to support Gaza, where West was the keynote speaker, with 350 people in attendance, including activists from the local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and other local faith leaders, at the Greenfield Manor banquet hall.
“In Michigan, we voted for him last time, more than 140,000 Arab and Muslim people voted for him. This time, he will get zilch,” said Ali Fattom, a retired university professor, who is also now backing West…
Some voters acknowledged in their questions and interviews with POLITICO that their votes for West in Michigan were protest votes. Living in a swing state, there are higher stakes for every vote and thinner margins for victory. But making a statement on the war could be more important for some voters next November.
“We really need [to get] the message out,” Fattom said. “And the best messenger right now is Dr. West.”
I suspect more shoes will drop, depending on how much traction Dr. West’s latest bid for the spotlight draws…
I enjoy the fact the photo choice of West looking like a wild-eyed street preacher in a suit really undercuts the shameless attempt to make him a Thing https://t.co/z9uQUaciy6
— The Mall Krampus (@cakotz) December 22, 2023
Is he planning to endorse banning LGBTQ+ books? https://t.co/MWArIWURUD
— Susan J. Demas ?? (@sjdemas) December 22, 2023
The “Abandon Biden” campaign is just the Arab version of The Brooks Brothers riot since most of its leaders are conservatives who voted for Trump in 2020. https://t.co/VkTCoRLn0e
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) December 20, 2023
Hits the M and C of the MICE criteria pretty well. https://t.co/pSupjex3u8
— Dave (also @cursed.monster on bsky) (@6502_ftw) December 2, 2023