Jill Stein: 'Zombie candidates' pushing voters to third parties
(NewsNation) — Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein told "Dan Abrams Live" on Friday that the two major political party's "zombie candidates" are being "rammed down our throats" this election season, causing voters to rethink their decision come November.
SAtein believes the performance of the two main party candidates, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, in the first presidential debate is leading voters away from the two-party system.
Stein, who previously dubbed herself the “pro-worker, anti-war, anti-genocide, climate emergency choice” that Americans want on “NewsNation Prime" in May, did not participate in the debate.
"The American people feel like they are the ones who are locked out last night," Stein said. "They've been locked out of this election, and really deserve to know who their choices are, and what their positions are."
Third-party conversion
Stein said the debate is the latest in a long line of mainstream party disappointments potentially leading voters elsewhere come November.
"There's a large number of what are called the double haters, that is people who will not vote for either of these two zombie candidates," Stein said. "So we've had enormous interest in our campaign, especially many people who will no longer show up for the Democratic Party."
"Double haters" are the constituents who dislike both Biden and Trump but are looking for the lesser evil when it comes time to vote.
Latest Gallup polling reveals that sentiment is highest among independents, with 75% saying a third party is needed. About 60% of Republicans and a slight minority of Democrats (46%) say an alternative should be added.
About 60% of U.S. adults have said in Gallup polling since 2013 that the Republican and Democratic parties do “such a poor job representing the American people” that a third major party is needed.
"This is why we were fighting, because we are on the ballot already, for the majority of voters," Stein said. "And voters deserve to know information about their candidates. And the debates really ought to include all ballot-qualified candidates."
Donald Trump, Joe Biden and RFK Jr.
Those other ballot-qualified candidates include Trump and Biden. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not yet qualified to be on ballots nationwide, despite widespread efforts and litigation.
Stein believes the Democratic party's interference in Kennedy's campaign is emblematic of problems presented by the two-party system.
"You know, I think he deserves to be heard. He's on his way to being valid, qualified, you know, so he's a candidate," she said. "You know, I think our system is supposed to be about presenting options to voters, and letting voters make their choices."
Following the first debate, critics from multiple parties are questioning President Joe Biden‘s reelection bid, claiming his performance was not that of a presidential nominee.
"I felt very badly for him. You know, I felt like it was embarrassing. It was humiliating, you know, I felt worse for him, I think, than anything else," Stein told Abrams.
But sympathy is not all-encompassing for Stein. She said she saw the signs of Biden's "cognitive issues" four years ago, blaming the Democratic Party for keeping it under wraps.
"To have protected him until now was a terrible mistake," she added.
Democratic party interference
"This is really a tragedy for the American voter. It began long before tonight, because the Democratic Party had really shut down the democratic processw. I would call it an anti-Democratic Party right now. Because it, it kept its own candidates off the ballot," Stein said.
Stein referenced Kennedy's shift to the independent party, saying the DNC ensured "he would not be given a hearing on the ballot, as well."
In regards to her own campaign, Stein claimed the party is "advertising right now for spies and infiltrators for our campaign" as a way to "silence the competition."
As Democrats and left-leaning media urges the party to reconsider their nominee, Stein believes the Democratic Party is avoiding responsibility.
"They want to blame someone else. And now they're blaming it on Joe Biden, but that catastrophe was really a matter of their own creation," she said.
The fallout of the debate and lack of other options on nationwide ballots is crippling the American voter from choosing someone representative, she said.
"So this is really a disaster for the American people," Stein added. "We deserve to have a democracy, especially at a time like this."
Economy, education and war
Stein emphasized that two-party candidates Biden and Trump are not addressing the issues voters care about: homelessness, the cost of living, student debt and the environment.
"Let me mention, half of our congressional budget right now is being thrown into this endless war machine, which is not making us more safe or more secure," Stein said. "In fact, it is impoverishing and endangering all of us."
Stein is a vocal opponent of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Palestine war who believes America must respect U.N. resolutions and the International Court of Justice’s ruling that the situation in Gaza is a “plausible genocide."
She was arrested in early May at a pro-Palestine protest, sustaining injuries that landed her in an emergency room.
These topics, she said, will not get proper treatment on the debate stage unless minor party candidates are able to join.
"This needs to be debated. If candidates like me are not in the debate, there will be no question, there will be no debate. This needs to be front and center, about our foreign policy, about our healtchare crisis, our housing crisis, our education crisis." Stein said. "The American people deserve to know what's going on."