Cornel West makes the switch from Green Party to independent

Activist Cornel West announced Thursday that he will run as an independent for president instead of campaigning as a Green Party candidate.

“I’m running as an Independent candidate for President of the United States to end the iron grip of the ruling class and ensure true democracy!” Mr. West posted on X.

“People are hungry for change,” he wrote. “They want good policies over partisan politics. We need to break the grip of the duopoly and give power to the people.”

Mr. West first announced his presidential bid in July. He has drawn criticism from Democrats who say that he will take away votes from President Biden and could cause some states to flip Republican.

He has denied that he wants to take voters away from Mr. Biden, but he attracts those who want more progressive policies like ending overseas wars, implementing universal health care and enacting police reform.

Polls show that an increasing number of voters are unhappy with the Republican and Democrat choices on the ballot and may be willing to consider third-party candidates.

“We need you to be part and parcel of wrestling with this corporate duopoly, this two-party system that impedes,” he said in a video attached to his X post. “It gets in the way of unleashing of the kind of policies of abolishing poverty and homelessness, of dealing with working wages, cutting back on militarism, and most importantly, trying to ensure that the best of who we are as a people can be more manifest, can be more concrete, because this crisis is real.”