By Ülvi Gitaliyev

With the presidential nominees for both major parties now de-facto confirmed, many voters are looking for alternatives come this November. Someone who is presenting herself as an alternative is Jill Stein, Green Party Candidate for 2012, 2016 and now, 2024. The Berea Torch went to Lexington on March 4th to hear Stein give her pitch and ask her questions about a whole array of issues on her campaign.

A small, but enthusiastic crowd came to meet Jill Stein at Lexington. However, there was also one vocal protestor at the event who blamed her for Trump’s victory in the 2016 election. Stein spoke at length about the importance of supporting a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and why both President Biden and former president Trump have failed in representing the American people. A pamphlet given out during the event stated that:

“A landside majority of U.S. voters support a ceasefire and end to the genocidal war on Gaza, but politicians aren’t listening. Instead, politicians are taking marching orders from AIPAC and war profiteers, while supplying bombs, bullets, and diplomatic cover to the Israel government to carry out its agenda of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

[If President] “I would cease all funding to Israel”

Jill Stein

The Berea Torch got a chance to ask Stein a few questions after her speech regarding her presidential campaign. When asked why she was running for president for a third time, Stein said, “The Green Party has been ahead of the curve on issues such as the Green New Deal. Now, the curve is catching up to us.” She hoped that Kentucky voters would appreciate her and her parties long term commitment to leftist issues. Next, we asked her about the United Nations Climate Change conference happening in Baku, Azerbaijan and what priorities she thinks world leaders should have. Stein mentioned excluding all corporate lobbyists, pledging to eliminate fossil fuels within a decade, and ensuring that developing nations do not get the short end of the stick.

When asked about her first day priorities if elected president, Jill Stein said that she would “pardon Julian Assange and Edward Snowden”. Then, she would “enforce U.S., laws prohibiting aid to genocide supporters”. Specifically, she spoke on the need to cut all aid to Israel until they respect Palestinian rights and work towards a permanent ceasefire.

Naturally, Jill Stein and the Green Party do not expect to win Kentucky, or any other state for that matter, in this election. Instead, their goal is to get enough votes to access public funding grants. If a candidate can receive over 5% of the national popular vote in an election, they will have access to a federal grant next election season, granted, if they limit private donations. While the exact number of the grant is dependent on the percentage of the popular vote in contrast with the two major parties, the extra million of dollars would certainly help the Green Party become more viable in U.S. politics. We will see if Jill Stein can achieve what no other third-party candidate has in decades.