Could a Jill Stein ‘Surge’ Sink Kamala Harris?

Jill Stein says she ‘cherishes’ the traction she’s gaining among Muslim American voters even if that support could damage Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

Recent polls show Stein ahead of Harris among Muslim voters in several battleground states, including Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, giving her Green Party a potentially pivotal role in swinging the election away from Harris in favor of former President Donald Trump.

“We’re grateful for the strong support of Muslim voters who share with us the determination to end genocide in Gaza, and the injustice faced by our Muslim friends,” Stein told Newsweek in a statement. “We urge all people of conscience to resist the propaganda telling you to hold your nose and vote for genocide. If you vote for genocide, you are actively consenting to it and enabling it. Don’t let them talk you out of your humanity.”

Polls show Stein has no chance of rivaling Harris, the Democratic nominee, or Trump, the Republican nominee, nationally. As of Friday, Harris had 48.1 percent of likely voters, compared to 46 percent for Trump and just 1 percent for Stein, according to RealClearPolitics data.

But her stance on Gaza has helped her among Muslim voters. Stein and Harris are essentially tied nationwide at 29 percent—with Trump at 11.2 percent and Cornel West at 4.2 percent. Another 16.5 percent of Muslim Americans remain undecided, while nearly 9 percent said they don’t plan to vote, according to the poll by Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Stein, 74, characterized stopping Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, where local authorities say more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping a further 250, as the “greatest moral imperative of our time.”

“Half a million Palestinian lives hang in the balance from starvation imposed by Israel, according to the UN,” Stein said. “Now polio and cholera are intensifying the threat.”

Harris campaign national security spokeswoman Morgan Finkelstein previously referred Newsweek to the vice president’s remarks during the Sept. 10 debate against Trump when asked for a response to concerns shared by Muslim voters.

Harris said Israel had a right to defend itself following the October 7 attacks, but acknowledged that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

“What we know is that this war must end,” Harris added.

She also pledged to continue working “around the clock” on a ceasefire deal, as well as to “chart a course” for a two-state solution.

Stein, who trails Harris in swing states Georgia and Pennsylvania among Muslim American voters, said supporters of her campaign will help build momentum to ultimately lead to a ceasefire in Gaza and a U.S. weapons embargo on Israel.

“Every vote against genocide is a shot across the bow of empire, announcing that its days are numbered and that the opposition is getting organized,” Stein said.

“As Frederick Douglass said, power concedes nothing without a demand. Your vote is that demand. Voting for the lesser evil disappears your opposition to genocide,” she said, referring to the 19th century Black civil rights leader and abolitionist.

Britain’s Green Party set a precedent for winning over Muslims with a strong stance on Gaza during the general election in July, taking four new seats in Parliament with a surge of support from Muslim voters.

More than half of Americans (61 percent) oppose the United States sending weapons to Israel and 37 percent believe U.S. President Joe Biden should encourage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt its military actions in Gaza, according to a CBS News poll in June.

Stein condemned Netanyahu in a statement Thursday for “his ongoing atrocities in Gaza” while accusing the Israeli leader of committing war crimes as Washington remains silent.

“His actions, enabled by U.S. support, demand immediate and uncompromising accountability,” Stein said. “Ongoing U.S. support for genocide in Gaza and the long list of U.S. wars since WWII underscore the continuing relevance of Martin Luther King’s observation that our country is ‘the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.'”

Trump leads both Harris and Stein among Muslims in Nevada, according to last month’s poll. But Stein’s chances to play spoiler in Nevada took a major hit Friday as the Supreme Court rejected the Green Party’s bid for her to appear on ballots in the state. In 2020, Biden won Nevada by just 33,000 votes.

Stein believes her anti-genocide, pro-worker agenda resonates with voters who feel disconnected from the political process. She’s also calling for a $25 minimum hourly wage for all workers, free public higher education, nationwide rent control and wants to end mass incarceration.

“The political elites want you to think you are small and powerless, and that resistance is futile,” Stein said. “We can pay for these programs by cutting the massive bloated military budget and requiring the rich to pay their fair share of taxes.”

To achieve a nation where all citizens can thrive, Stein said, U.S. policymakers must move away from a militarized foreign policy to an approach based on international law, human rights and diplomacy—a shift that would free up trillions of dollars to address the needs of Americans instead.

“The Muslim-American community has the experience, the insight and the moral fiber to stand up and lead the way,” Stein’s statement concluded. “Together with students, Jews, Christians and people of faith and humanity, we are an unstoppable force for a world that works for all of us. We must build that world starting now.”

Yasmeen Khan, 24, of Raleigh, North Carolina, where polls show Harris and Trump virtually tied in the key swing state, said she plans to vote for Stein despite supporting Biden in 2020.

“Kamala Harris doesn’t really respect the sentiment of a lot of what we’re going through, just in terms of witnessing people suffering in Palestine specifically,” Khan, who is Muslim, told Newsweek. “The word I’ll use is crass—the way it is being handled by the Democratic Party. They are very quick to dismiss the true suffering that we’re going through.”

Khan accused both Democrats and Republicans of seeking to monetize the Israel-Hamas war.

Abdulhamid Ali, 65, of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, has accused Harris of giving little more than “lip service” to he and other Muslim Americans calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, as well as an embargo of U.S. weapons to Israel.

“I want to see a concrete plan,” Ali told Newsweek. “For her to say, ‘I will create a free and democratic Palestinian state, and these are the steps we will take.'”

A coalition of Muslim political groups issued a statement Friday urging all American Muslims to support candidates who endorse a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo against Israel, including Stein, West or Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver.

The American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force rejected endorsing Harris due to her refusal to consider withdrawing U.S. military support of Israel or promise changes to the Biden administration’s support of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

“American Muslims have the potential to significantly influence local and national elections by voting strategically,” the coalition said in a statement. “By doing so, they can support candidates who advocate for civil rights, racial equality, religious freedom, rule of law, freedom of speech, and a humane foreign policy. It’s important to remember which candidates supported or opposed local ceasefire resolutions and campus protests when making voting decisions.”