Independent presidential candidate Cornel West said of his rival running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), “sold his soul” to former President Trump, and that Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) is “a decent guy” in a corrupt party.
“Vance appears to have sold his soul to submit to Trump’s lies and crimes,” West told NewsNation on Saturday. “While Vance is more intellectually sophisticated than Trump, it is sad to see him abandon any claim to integrity and honesty and identify as an extension of Trump’s lies and criminal conduct.”
West was addressing the criticism Vance has faced since being named Trump’s running mate, after he previously said he would “never support Trump” and likened the former president to Adolf Hitler.
Trump defended his new running mate, saying Vance “didn’t know me,” but now that they know each other, “he probably liked me more than anybody.”
As for Harris’ running mate, West said he considers Walz “a very decent guy in a corrupt party.”
Waltz was named Harris’ running mate earlier this week, and the pair have been campaigning in battleground states since then. In the weeks since Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Harris has smashed donation records, excited voters with massive rallies and narrowed Trump’s lead in the polls.
“And now he, like any other elected official, has to somehow deal with the misdeeds of people in high places,” West said of Walz. “And they’ve been able to generate a tremendous amount of excitement. It’s a beautiful thing to see people expressing some kind of joy.”
West, who is running a campaign that is seen as unlikely to win, said he believes people’s excitement about Harris’ candidacy is driven by “desperation.”
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