[Excerpts from my post at Under the Greenwood Tree]
I have received a March 20 communication from the European Green Party officially rejecting the U.S. Green Party’s “Republicans are preferable to Democrats” stance.
This was in response to my query to them asking, as a writer intending to publish their response, if they share the views expressed by numerous U.S. Green Party leaders and allies that Republicans in American office are preferable to Democrats. I provided them a link to a compilation of statements, each with a link to its original source so validity and context are easily verified. It includes views such as such as this from U.S. Greens’ 2016 presidential candidate Jill Stein in October 2016:
If you watched the debate the other night, you would have heard Trump saying that he’s looking for collaboration with Putin… he’s got business interests all over the place; on that basis, hey wow, maybe he’d be the peace president because he needs peace all over the place… Yeah, climate change is horrific, but it’s not happening tomorrow.
Among the many similar pronouncements by U.S. Green leaders are an article by Stein posted in October titled “What’s scarier than Donald Trump? Hillary Clinton’s plans to gut Social Security;” an article that her running mate Ajamu Baraka tweeted in October titled “Why Hillary Clinton Is More Dangerous Than Donald Trump;” and a statement from the U.S. Greens’ 2016 campaign social media director Jillian Thomas explaining her own preference for Trump over Clinton.
There are many more. Ralph Nader, U.S. Greens’ 2000 presidential candidate, similarly often stated his desire to see Al Gore defeated and George W. Bush win.
The reaction from Eliana Capretti, Head of Communications and Press, European Green Party, was a swift, thorough and unambiguous repudiation:
None of those quotes have every been associated with the European Green Party, nor have we ever lent support to any of them, nor will we endorse them now, nor in the future.
...
Perhaps if word gets around, this might encourage U.S. Green grassroots to begin demanding a strategy for the future from its leadership that’s less destructive to Earth and all living things that dwell upon it.
[Do NOT use this diary to relitigate the primary. This is about the future and helping Democrats succeed.]