The Harris-Walz campaign is circulating opposition research targeting Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and urging climate-focused voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris as former president Donald Trump gains in the polls, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Speaking on a climate-focused call with supporters and canvassers this week, Harris campaign climate engagement director Camila Thorndike said Harris was a true "climate champion" who would "defend the planet" from "fossil fuel oligarchs" while Stein "pretends to be a progressive advocate."
Then, on Thursday, Thorndike shared a document with call participants purporting to show how Stein is being propped up by the Trump campaign. That document, which was obtained by the Free Beacon, warns that "GOP lawyers and operatives" have assisted Stein’s campaign and says Stein has "echoed MAGA talking points" on January 6 and the cases filed against Trump.
"She sadly does not represent the movements that have worked for decades to build power and make progress in this country and around the world," Thorndike said on the call this week. "In fact, Jill Stein's campaign is, in many ways, an operation by Trump and MAGA forces to undermine the incredible progress that we have made on climate and that we are about to supercharge in the next Harris-Walz administration."
"She is not a friend to democracy and she does not care about governing and making progress, but really only about making herself a pivotal figure," she continued.
The Harris campaign's heightened panic levels regarding Stein come less than two weeks before the election and as polls continue to tighten in favor of Trump. According to the RealClearPolitics poll average, Harris's lead in the national polls has been erased. Harris was up by 2 points in the average less than a month ago.
That panic also comes as Harris presents herself as a moderate on energy issues like fracking and electric vehicles, a move that could alienate young, climate-focused voters. Stein, on the other hand, is running on an ultra-environmental platform that includes advancing the "ecosocialist Real Green New Deal."
On the call, Thorndike argued that Harris supporters need to defend Harris in conversations with friends and family, and begin attacking Stein, citing Stein's potential to peel votes away from Harris in swing states. In 2016, if Stein voters had instead voted for Hillary Clinton, Clinton would have won Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. As such, Democrats have labeled Stein a "spoiler candidate."
"I wish it were a multi-party system in our country, but it's a two-party system, so a vote for Jill Stein or staying at home is actually a vote for Donald Trump," Congressional Progressive Caucus chairwoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) added during her remarks on the call.
In addition to Thorndike and Jayapal, climate activist and actor Mark Ruffalo also took time during the call to warn against voting for Stein.
Earlier this month, meanwhile, youth advocacy group Voters of Tomorrow launched a campaign on TikTok attacking Stein and labeling her a "scammer," NBC News reported. Left-leaning think tank Third Way also issued talking points about how to message against Stein, explaining that "painting her as Putin's puppet" was a more salient hit against her than saying she is a "MAGA-funded spoiler."
The Harris campaign and Stein campaign didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.