Donald Kaufman, Ajamu Baraka, Kasia Anderson and Emma Niles.

Ajamu Baraka, the Green Party nominee for vice president, may not have been well known to mainstream media audiences before joining Jill Stein’s campaign, but he’s certainly made headlines since becoming her running mate in the summer. Baraka, a longtime human-rights activist, sat down with the Truthdig team on Thursday, in a conversation streamed live onto our Facebook page.

Baraka discussed foreign policy, WikiLeaks, the American prison system and protests against the Dakota Access pipeline, among other topics.

This election cycle has not been easy on the Green Party. Stein and Baraka have received little coverage from the mainstream media, and the coverage they do get is often negative. However, even if it doesn’t win the election, the party hopes to make an important stride this fall: If Stein and Baraka receive 5 percent of the vote in the general election, the Green Party will receive about $10 million from the Federal Election Commission.

Despite this potential achievement, many voters express dismay over Stein and Baraka’s campaign, worried that a third party will have a “Nader effect” on the general election. Others, however, think the Green Party continues the progressive message espoused in Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.

Now that Sanders has launched Our Revolution to support like-minded candidates running for office, what does Baraka think of Sanders and his movement? How does the Green Party handle the challenges of overcoming third-party bias?

The Green Party presidential ticket has a wide-ranging platform. Stein and Baraka have called for action on climate change and also have offered proposals to tackle poverty, health care, peaceful foreign policy and student debt (this last position recently was questioned in a John Oliver segment on “Last Week Tonight”).

Hillary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s campaigns continue to incite controversy. Trump faces numerous allegations of sexual assault, while Clinton has been accused of corruption in regard to her leaked emails. What are Baraka’s thoughts on this unprecedented election season? Has the 2016 presidential campaign helped or hurt the Green Party?

You also can check out past editions of “Live at Truthdig” on our YouTube channel.

—Posted by Emma Niles

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#2016 election#ajamu baraka#bernie sanders#facebook live#green party#Jill Stein#Live at Truthdig#national#politics#third party#usa