Since 2016, Democrats have obsessed over “foreign interference” in American elections and pointed to Facebook ads as a nefarious Russian plot to elect Donald Trump.
But that was then. This is now, and Kamala Harris is welcoming all the help she can get, even if it’s illegal and coming from a foreign political party.
The National Desk reports that the British are coming.
The left-leaning British Labour Party is sending nearly 100 members to U.S. battleground states to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the presidential election.
Sofia Patel, head of operations for the Labour Party, shared the plans via LinkedIn Wednesday. She claimed current and former party staff will target key swing states like North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“I have 10 spots available for anyone available to head to the battleground state of North Carolina – we will sort your housing,” Patel offered in the post.
Patel also noted she plans to arrive in the U.S. two weeks prior to the election and stay in Washington, D.C., for a few days afterward.
The Washington Examiner noted that the move by Labour has high risks associated with it. “As America’s closest ally, the U.K. has a vested interest in maintaining the “special relationship” whether Vice President Kamala Harris or Trump is elected. That relationship is critical to the U.K.’s economic and security well-being. But now, Starmer’s own Labour Party has thrown a wrench in his bipartisan works.
As Politics U.K. reported on Thursday, a top Labour Party official is helping to arrange for “nearly 100” current and former Labour staff members to travel to battleground states to campaign for Harris. The Washington Examiner understands that these trips are being made on a personal basis rather than by the Labour Party or with party funding. The U.K. government had no role in organizing these trips. Still, it’s hard to see how Starmer would be anything but furious with what’s happening here.
Trump’s general inability to dissect his personal interests from the national interest is well-understood abroad. Yet, as Starmer’s government attempts to woo China (its foreign secretary is currently in China doing just that), the U.K. already faces a tough balancing act in maintaining the special relationship if Trump wins. After all, China is likely to be the focal nemesis of a Trump part deux foreign policy. The growing threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and near-daily attacks on Filipino vessels by the Chinese coast guard means that the U.S. doesn’t want to see its closest ally playing footsie with Beijing.
We’ve been down a similar road before. In 2004, the newspaper of record of the British Left, the Guardian, organized for its readers to write to voters in Ohio in an effort to persuade them to cast their vote for then-Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. The effort backfired astonishingly, leading to a tidal wave of Americans demanding that the ‘Limeys’ stay out of the election.”
As polls move towards Trump, Americans may say the same thing again in 2024.
