The DNC has launched targeted digital ads in battleground states reminding voters of the threat Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent candidate Cornel West pose in this election. They can’t win, but they can decide who does. This will be the DNC’s first digital ad buy calling out Stein and West for being MAGA spoilers. 

The ads spotlight Donald Trump’s own words at a rally in Pennsylvania this year: “Cornel West. He’s one of my favorite candidates. […] Jill Stein, I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them.” They will run on Instagram and YouTube in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Arizona through Election Day with specific emphasis on younger voters and college campuses. 

DNC Senior Advisor Mary Beth Cahill released the following statement: 

“It’s clear that Jill Stein and Cornel West can help decide if Donald Trump wins the White House in 2024 — just like Stein did in 2016. That’s why Trump and his MAGA allies are doing everything in their power to prop up these spoiler candidates. A vote for Stein or West is a vote for Trump. The only way to avoid a repeat of 2016 is to cast your vote for Kamala Harris.”

Ad Running in Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin:

COPY: “Trump loves Cornel West and Jill Stein. Because a vote for them is a vote for Trump.” 

TRUMP: “Cornel West, he’s one of my favorite candidates. Cornel West. And I like — I like her also, Jill Stein. I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them. He takes 100%.” 

Ad Running in Arizona and Pennsylvania: 

COPY: “A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Trump. Trump knows it. Now you know it, too.” 

TRUMP: “And I like — I like her also, Jill Stein. I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them.” 

BACKGROUND:

On June 22, 2024, Donald Trump held a rally in Philadelphia, PA where he said “Cornel West, he’s one of my favorite candidates. Cornel West. And I like — I like her also, Jill Stein. I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them. He takes 100%.” 

In 2016, Stein helped Trump win the election. She won 132,000 votes in the decisive swing states — Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — while Trump’s margin of victory was just 77,000 votes in those same states. 

In Wisconsin, Stein paid Republican attorney Michael Dean, best known for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, to help her gain ballot access. And a super PAC, Badger Values, founded by a longtime Republican operative with ties to Senate GOP leadership, spent at least $307,000 on direct mail and advertising to boost her candidacy. 

A Republican-aligned dark money group, Fair Election Fund, took credit for propping up the spoiler campaigns of Stein and West by investing in paid media in critical swing states. Republicans and their allies have also worked to get West on the ballot in at least eight states, all in the hopes that West will boost Trump’s chances of winning.