There has been a lot of talk in the media about independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump, ostensibly in exchange for a position in a prospective Trump administration and an opportunity to focus policies on his particular issues at a high level.

Largely ignored by the media is the claim last week from leftist independent candidate Cornel West that he received similar offers and incentives from Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, according to Breitbart.

West declined to divulge the specific details of what the Harris campaign offered him but did seem to confirm that it involved an administration position, money to pay off campaign debt, and a chance to have "substantive conversations" about the issues he cares the most about.

"I said you all just talking to the wrong brother"

Last week, following the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Cornel West appeared on the leftist "Status Coup" podcast with host Jordan Chariton and confirmed the rumors that the Harris campaign had made him an offer to drop out of the presidential race.

Asked about reports that "higher-up folks in the Democratic Party" had approached him with offers for him to drop out, West replied, "Well, I mean a number of them reached out just saying I need to get on the bandwagon -- this is a historic moment, especially a black moment" with Harris poised to be the president.

He also claimed that "religious leaders" reached out to him as well to urge him to exit the race but he said, "I told them, I said you all just talking to the wrong brother. You can offer resources or position or what have you -- that’s not what I’m all about. That’s not the game I play."

West went on to slam the Democratic convention for its "superficial glitz" while in reality it was all about "money, money, money, status, status, status," and ignoring all of the problems that average working-class Americans and minorities face on a regular basis.

Offered a position, money, and a "substantive conversation" about issues

A few moments later, after West mentioned how he has been accused by some Democrats of being a spoiler who will help the "fascist" former President Trump win re-election -- a charge he later disputed -- Chariton asked again if he'd been offered any administrative positions or financial resources to drop out.

"Oh, I mean there was definitely various kind of offers," West replied. "I won’t go into concrete details of it, I really won’t, because I don’t I -- I don’t even want to make that the focus here."

Chariton joked that the offer must have been more than a "janitor's position" and "something relatively high up" in the administration, but West responded with a laugh, "Well, I don’t think it was that high up" and suggested that, to him, "the highest position in the empire" that won't acknowledge the "genocide" in Gaza is "just a place in Dante's Inferno."

The host took a final shot at prying specifics out of the candidate and asked, "Did they offer you a cabinet position, a lower position, and offer to pay off any of your campaign debt?"

"Well, they offered serious, substantive conversation about all of those that could lead toward some real, you know ...," West replied.

Will West pull leftist votes away from Harris?

There is real fear among Democrats that West, a far-left progressive socialist who is deeply anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, could pull votes away from VP Harris on her left flank, which could prove impactful, particularly in the closely contested battleground states where he has fought successfully against DNC-backed lawsuits to gain ballot access.

How impactful West's candidacy will be remains to be seen, as the RealClearPolling national average for a multi-candidate race shows West drawing around 0.8% support while VP Harris is ahead of former President Trump by around 2 points, 46.7-44.7%.