With just a week before the election, actress and activist Susan Sarandon has announced that she plans to vote for Jill Stein in the presidential election.
Sarandon, who had previously been an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter, said that she felt she must back Green Party’s Stein to support third-party candidates in the future.
In a statement issued on Stein’s website on Monday, Sarandon said:
“It’s clear a third party is necessary and viable at this time. And this is the first step in accomplishing this end. Fear of Donald Trump is not enough for me to support Clinton, with her record of corruption. Now that Trump is self-destructing, I feel even those in swing states have the opportunity to vote their conscience.”
Some are criticizing Sarandon for her choice, saying that as an upper class white heterosexual woman, she has little to lose from a Trump presidency. Don’t expect Sarandon to take those criticisms to heart, though, as she and many others who feel as she does waited quite some time for Clinton to win her over before going third-party.
Sarandon listed several Clinton stances she cannot abide, including her stance on legalizing marijuana and the minimum wage. Sarandon also noted that Clinton has no stance on the NoDAPL protest, a weak stance on the TPP, and in many other issues simply fails to go far enough.
Jill Stein only holds a couple of percentage points nationwide, so a vote for the third-party candidate is more of a symbolic gesture. Sarandon makes it clear that her support for Stein is conditional on her belief that Clinton is expected to easily win the election.
