Cornel West Defends Harlan Crow Donation: 'I Am Unbought'

Cornel West Defends Harlan Crow Donation: ‘I Am Unbought’

Supply: Francine Orr / Getty

Independent presidential candidate Cornel West has responded to criticism of his marketing campaign accepting a donation from a Republican billionaire who was not too long ago uncovered to have been lavishing a Supreme Courtroom justice with presents which have been in comparison with bribes.

Megadonor Harlan Crow contributed $3,300 to West’s marketing campaign in August, NBC Information reported on Wednesday. The donation was the utmost quantity allowed underneath marketing campaign finance legal guidelines.

MORE: Op-Ed: Cornel West, A Prophet For President

However the ensuing controversy has been extra in regards to the supply of the contribution than the contribution itself since a bombshell investigative report by ProPublica in April revealed that Affiliate Supreme Courtroom Justice Clarence Thomas illegally accepted luxurious presents from Crow.

With out mentioning Thomas, West channeled his inside Shirley Chisholm by claiming he’s “unbought and unbossed” whereas defending accepting the donation from Crow.

“As an unbiased candidate and a free Black man, I settle for donations throughout the limits of no PACs or company curiosity teams which have strings hooked up,” West stated Thursday afternoon in a press release posted to his social media channels.

“I’m unbought and unbossed,” West continued. “Regardless of my deep political variations with brother Harlan Crow (who’s an anti-Trump Republican), I’ve recognized him in a non-political setting for some years and I pray for his treasured household.”

West questioned why the power behind the criticism of him accepting a donation from Crow hasn’t additionally been utilized to politicians who “help the genocidal assault in Gaza.”

Conversely, Crow described West in a Wall Road Journal interview in April as “a superb good friend.”

Crow’s contribution in query got here when West was campaigning for the Inexperienced Get together’s presidential nomination.

Earlier this month, West introduced he was leaving the Inexperienced Get together to launch an unbiased presidential bid.

“Persons are hungry for change. They need good insurance policies over partisan politics. We have to break the grip of the duopoly and provides energy to the individuals,” West, 70, wrote in a social media submit accompanied by a 40-second video clip. “I’m working as an Unbiased candidate for President of the USA to finish the iron grip of the ruling class and guarantee true democracy!”

It was the second time West has modified his political affiliation since declaring his presidential candidacy in June.

Again then, West stated he was working “for the Folks’s Get together to reintroduce America to the most effective of itself – preventing to finish poverty, mass incarceration, ending wars and ecological collapse, guaranteeing housing, well being care, training and residing wages for all!”

Not two weeks later, West introduced that he was switching to the Inexperienced Get together, a declaration that he stated on the time was in “the spirit of a broad United Entrance and coalition technique.”