Nader says he’ll support Biden: ‘I know the difference between fascism and autocracy’

In an interview with The Washington Post released Monday, former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader said he is supporting President Biden’s 2024 reelection bid.

Nader made it clear that he won’t be formally endorsing Biden, still supports third parties in principle and personally praises likely Green Party 2024 candidate Cornel West, but he has little hope for the party’s chances as a whole in the upcoming election.

“I know the difference between fascism and autocracy, and I’ll take autocracy any time,” Nader said in a telephone interview with the Post. “Fascism is what the GOP is the architecture of, and autocracy is what the Democrats are practitioners of. But autocracy leaves an opening. They don’t suppress votes. They don’t suppress free speech.”

Nader is infamous for his role as a “spoiler” during the 2000 election. The closeness of the race that year between Al Gore and George W. Bush, and the slim margins by which the latter won, caused criticism directed at Nader by Democrats for taking up potential Democratic votes.

“We are stuck with Biden now,” Nader said. “In a two-party duopoly, if one should be defeated ferociously, the logic is that the other one prevails.”

Rumblings around a “spoiler” like Nader entering the 2024 presidential race have come up recently, especially as the group No Labels has appeared to consider a third-party candidate run. National co-chairman of No Labels and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said it is “very likely” the group will launch an “alternative” candidate to Biden and former president Trump if they both win their parties’ nominations last month. 

“But if Trump and Biden are the nominees, it’s very likely that No Labels will get access to the ballot and offer an alternative,” Hogan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And if most of the voters don’t want A or B, we have an obligation to give them C, I mean, for the good of the country.” 

Earlier this month, Hogan tried to dissuade fears about a “spoiler” candidate from No Labels, saying they would put forth a third-party ticket with the goal of winning a majority.

“Nobody’s trying to spoil anything. This is about actually receiving a majority of the votes,” Hogan said. 

“I think we should only put together a ticket in the event that it’s Trump and Biden. And I’m still, again, still trying to work to make sure we can get a good Republican nominee,” Hogan added.