AMY GOODMAN: We turn right now, also on the presidential race, to Nina Turner, former Ohio state senator, founder of We Are Somebody, which has been out talking to voters in Ohio about early voting, voting hours, voting the whole ballot. She is a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy here at The New School. Her new piece for Newsweek is headlined “Calling Trump a Nazi Is Giving Our Own History a Pass. The Racism of MAGA Is American.”

Nina Turner, unlike Bishop Barber, you have not actually endorsed your party’s candidate, Kamala Harris. But if you can explain why and then explain this piece, why you’re saying what’s happening in this country is uniquely American?

NINA TURNER: Well, for me, in this race, it’s important to give the voters the depth and the breadth that they need to be able to make their own decisions. As you know, I was on a presidential campaign twice, in 2016 and 2020, so I was actually out there stumping for my candidate, which was Senator Bernard Sanders. In this particular race, I mean, I’m feeling just as frustrated as most of the voters and the people that I’ve had the opportunity to talk to all over this country. People are really tired. They are exhausted. And we are going to have a lot of work to do after this election cycle. I’m more exhausted now than I was in 2016 and 2020, mentally and physically, although I am not on the campaign trail.

In terms of my piece in Newsweek, it was important to set the stage that the MAGA movement itself, and not to say that all people in the movement are white supremacists or bigoted, but President Donald J. Trump has certainly set a stage by which the unfulfilled promises of this country, the undealt-with anti-Blackness and other types of racism and bigotry have not been dealt with sufficiently. And so it bubbles up to the top when you have someone like him that spreads that kind of stuff. And no one should be surprised.

But I think when people lay this at the feet of Nazi Germany, oh, no, no, no, wait a minute — that’s really what the crux of my piece was, is, “Oh, no, this is just as American as apple pie.” And also, when they do that, you diminish what happened to millions of people in Nazi Germany, and, more importantly, you diminish the Black liberation struggle right here on this soil, where a type of fascism, apartheid-type activity, chattel slavery itself, that deprived generations of Black people from living out their greatest greatness, from rapes to lynchings to generational chattel — you diminish that, and you say, “This is not us.” That piece was to say, “No, it is us, and we need to deal with it and not push it off on some other nation.”

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And what are you hearing, Nina, from voters that you’ve been speaking to? What are their principal concerns?

NINA TURNER: The economy. I mean, that is the thing that I hear about the most. And I know now some numbers have come out. Gas prices are mysteriously lower now. Imagine that. I’ve had voters say that to me. But it really is the economy and how inflation has really siphoned off any advantages that working-class people from all backgrounds have been trying so hard to change their material conditions, but they have not been able to get ahead.

AMY GOODMAN: And why haven’t you made an endorsement?

NINA TURNER: I’m doing other work right now. You know, my one endorsement is not as important as the endorsement of voters all across this country. And I think sometimes people tend to put themselves ahead of what everyday voters need and want in this country. And so, it is important to give the depth and the breadth to the voters. I am not on anybody’s campaign trail. I was feeling it deeply in 2016 and 2020. And quite frankly, right now I am not feeling it, and I am fed up. And I wanted to be a clear-eyed, unattached voice for the struggles of working-class people in this country from all identities and to be able to channel their pain freely without, you know, trying to be controlled — which I cannot be controlled. And so, it was important for me to be a free agent, so to speak, during this election cycle. And that is exactly what I’m doing with my organization and also being a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy.

AMY GOODMAN: At The New School. We want to thank you very much for being with us, former Ohio state Senator Nina Turner. Tune in election night, Tuesday, November 5th, for a four-hour election special here on Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.