Independent presidential candidate Cornel West announced Wednesday that California State University Los Angeles professor Melina Abdullah will be his running mate.
“I wanted someone whose heart and soul was committed to empowering poor and working people of all colors,” West told Tavis Smiley on Smiley’s KBLA 1580 radio show.
“Melina has a history — a longevity that puts her heart, mind and soul into the fight,” West added.
Abdullah is a professor of Pan-African Studies and previously chaired the Department of Pan-African Studies at Cal State.
West is seeking ballot access in states across the country for his long-shot campaign, which is in the low single digits in the public poll but could have a big impact on the 2024 runoff between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. West has been critical of Biden’s presidency from the left, and he criticized both major party candidates in an interview Wednesday.
“Trump is leading the country into Civil War II, Biden is leading the world into World War III,” West said Wednesday, adding, “If you’re all about binary, here’s your choice… We provide an alternative.”
“I’m running his campaign,” Abdullah told Smiley, adding, “I’m really, really inspired. I mean, a platform of truth, love and justice? What platform is this? How can you not get behind that platform?”
Abdullah said that he first met West when he was an undergraduate student at Howard University remained in close contact with him throughout his career as an academic.
In July 2023, she, West, and Smiley connected during an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Black Lives Matter movement. West asked Abdullah to join the ticket last week, he said.
“He’s a warrior of love,” West told Smiley.
Abdullah has been outspoken on several political topics on X, formerly known as Twitter. Back in December, he compared the New York Police Department to the KKK and called the Israeli military, the Israel Defense Forces, the “Israeli Occupation Forces” employed by some progressives.
After release On Beyoncé’s latest album released last month, which showed the singer riding a horse holding an American flag, Abdullah X wrote: “The #AmericanFlag symbolizes genocide, land theft, enslavement, dehumanization and exploitation of indigenous peoples. Black people and settler colonialism. Criticism surrounding @Beyonce’s artistic choice is important and healthy, not hate.”
Abdullah also spoke out against singer Taylor Swift earlier this year, asking on X, “Why do I feel like being a Taylor Swift fan is a little bit racist?”
Later that month, Abdullah shared the threatening voicemail he received and captioned the video: “If @taylorswift13 tweets about her fans being ‘a little bit racist’, I’ll edit myself…delusionists.”
Abdullah has been involved in the Black Lives Matter movement for many years and spoke to Smiley about the importance of being the only black ticket in the presidential race this year.
“Sister Melina and I have been fighting for justice for decades,” West told Smiley.
“We need people who are already fighting for justice to run for election,” he added.