Jill Stein sees 'no lesser evil' between Harris, Trump

Widespread anger among Arab Americans and Muslims over U.S. support for Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon could cost Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, the election, Green Party candidate Jill Stein told Reuters on Sunday.

Polls show Harris and her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, in a tight race for the Nov. 5 election, with Stein garnering just 1% support nationally, as she did in the 2016 election.

But Stein has seen growing support among Arab Americans and Muslims in battleground states like Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin where they have large populations that helped propel President Joe Biden to narrow victories in the 2020 election.

Stein has sought the support of those groups, calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate U.S. arms embargo on Israel. An August poll by the Council on American Islamic Relations showed her taking support away from Harris in those swing states.

"The Democrats have lost the Muslim American and the Arab American vote," Stein told Reuters after a rally attended by about 100 people in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn on Sunday. "They're going to be losing enough swing states that they will not win and they cannot win."

She said Democrats could win back those voters if they enacted an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and halted arms sales to Israel, but that there was no sign of such action.

The Biden administration, along with several U.S. allies like France, has called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border and has been trying, unsuccessfully, to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza for months.

Asked about her potential role as a "spoiler," taking votes from Harris and so helping Trump in those states, Stein said another Trump presidency would be "terrible" but so would four more years of Democratic rule, given high rental costs, the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and attacks on civil liberties.

"This is a very dire situation that will be continued under both Democrats and Republicans. So we say there is no lesser evil in this race," she said.

'The spoiler candidate'

The Democratic party called Stein "a spoiler candidate" with no path to victory.

"She put Donald Trump in the White House in 2016 and she's ready to do it again. A vote for Stein is a vote for Trump," said Adrienne Watson, senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee.

Harris has sought to ease the concerns of Arab American and Muslim voters, and met with a small group of local leaders in Flint, Michigan, on Friday.

Muslim advocacy group Emgage Action endorsed Harris last month, saying it disagreed with her position on the war in Gaza but that Trump posed a greater danger. A separate group called Arab Americans for Harris-Walz launched last week.

On Monday, a campaign group called "Abandon Harris" said it was endorsing Stein, citing a shared responsibility to stand against oppression "and using all our power to stop genocide - wherever it may arise."

Trump is also trying to woo Arab and Muslim voters and his campaign opened an office on Saturday in Hamtramck, a Detroit suburb whose Yemeni American mayor Amer Ghalib has endorsed him.

"For the Arab American and Muslim leaders in Detroit, the overwhelming choice is between Jill Stein and Donald Trump, and our argument is that there's only one person who's brought a permanent peace to the region, and that's Donald Trump," said Richard Grenell, who has held dozens of meetings with these voters in Michigan, Arizona and other critical states.

Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris walks to board Air Force Two REUTERS