Jill Stein refuses to pull out of White House race despite calls from Green parties

European coalition urges candidate to drop out to stop her taking votes off Kamala Harris and giving Donald Trump an election win

Jill Stein has refused to drop out of the race for the White House despite calls from more than a dozen Green parties to do so.
The US Green Party candidate is under pressure to end her presidential campaign just days before polling day, amid claims that she could fatally wound Kamala Harris and hand the election to Donald Trump.
A coalition of European parties across Europe has used an open letter to urge Ms Stein to suspend her campaign and endorse Ms Harris instead.
Otherwise, they warn, she risks splitting the Left-wing vote in key battleground states.
The Stein campaign told The Telegraph that it was “categorically not considering” dropping out.
Some commentators believe Ms Stein, who is on the ballot in almost every swing state, was crucial to Trump’s election in 2016 by siphoning votes away from Hillary Clinton.
Polling shows that the contest between Trump and Ms Harris is far closer than eight years ago, when the Republican was predicted to lose by a sizeable margin.
The European Greens noted that Ms Stein, who is running in her third presidential election, had no chance of winning and that the race between Ms Harris and Trump was “too close for comfort”.
“Donald Trump has promised that if he becomes president again, he will extend abortion bans, deny members of the LGBTQIA+ community their rights, and deport migrants on masse,” it said.
“Like other ultra-conservative politicians across the globe with whom he has close relationships such as [Russian president] Vladimir Putin… he would undermine democracy.”
The European Greens have no formal link with Ms Stein’s US Greens, having split from the American wing over its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The letter, signed by Green parties from countries including Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, Belgium, Spain, Poland and Ukraine, argued that Trump would undermine democracy and world peace.
“This election takes place at a watershed moment in the history of our planet,” it continued.
“We face a climate crisis that is worsening every year… Climate policies require democratic institutions, which we fear would be dismantled if Trump is elected.
“On top of this, wars are raging and authoritarianism is growing throughout the world.
“In this crucial moment, Europe needs Kamala Harris as President of the United States, to be a reliable partner and to take the urgent, decisive action needed on the climate crisis and to bring about a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East.”
It has previously been reported that Badger Values, a Republican-aligned campaign group, has spent $307,000 on advertising for Ms Stein to peel away votes from Ms Harris in the swing state of Wisconsin.
Ralph Nader, the Green party candidate in 2000, is widely thought to have cost Al Gore the presidency when the Democrat lost Florida to George W Bush by 537 votes.