Critics argued the move amounted to foreign election interference: 'Investigate!'
In a now-deleted social media post, the head of operations for the left-wing British Labour Party indicated "nearly 100" current and former party staffers will be headed to the U.S. to help Vice President Kamala Harris during the final stretch before the election.
The Labour Party leader, Sofia Patel, took to LinkedIn earlier this week to solicit help from current and former members of the party who would be willing to campaign for Harris in the key battleground state of North Carolina. Patel indicated in her post that she had already organized "nearly 100 Labour Party staff" to stump across the key battleground states of Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia but had about 10 spots left for anyone willing to head to North Carolina.
"We will sort your housing," Patel assured anyone interested. "Email me on
🚨 NEW: Nearly 100 current and former Labour Party staff are going to battleground states in the US election to campaign for Kamala Harris, with the party offering to ‘sort your housing’ pic.twitter.com/12EBTkuNL5
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 17, 2024
Patel, in addition to deleting the post, appeared to delete her entire LinkedIn page as of Friday morning as well.
There is no indication the Labour Party's efforts have been coordinated with the Harris campaign. Fox News Digital reached out to both for comment but did not receive any on-the-record response by publication time.
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A banner for the Labour Party Conference, held in Liverpool, England, is seen on Sept. 24, 2024. (Photo by Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Following news of the Labour Party's plans to help Harris, critics took issue with the move, with some slamming it as foreign election interference.
"Yet another reason to vote for President Trump," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said. "More foreign election interference from the Democrats," added Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., called for an investigation. "Election interference from foreign nationals. Investigate!" Collins wrote on X.
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🚨 NEW: Nearly 100 current and former Labour Party staff are going to battleground states in the US election to campaign for Kamala Harris, with the party offering to ‘sort your housing’ pic.twitter.com/12EBTkuNL5
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 17, 2024
Elon Musk and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., both outright called the move illegal.
"You are breaking FEC laws," Greene said in a social media post directed at the Labour Party. "Foreign nationals are not allowed to be involved in anyway in U.S. elections. Please go back to the UK and fix your own mass immigration problems that are ruining your country."
Musk, meanwhile, simply responded "This is illegal."
X's "Community Notes" function, which serves to provide context for inaccurate or misleading information on the platform, flagged Greene's remarks for additional context, however. According to the additional context added to her post, while federal election law does not allow foreign-nationals to make monetary or in-kind contributions in connection with federal races, it is permissable to participate in campaign activities as an uncompensated volunteer.
American journalist Isaac Saul, who founded a digital news project called Tangle News aimed at providing a non-partisan take on news headlines, echoed the arguments from X's community note.
"Elon Musk claiming Labour Party leaders are violating the law by coming here to campaign. They aren't," Saul wrote on X in response to Musk's comments that the Labour Party's work was "illegal."
"This is only illegal if they are being compensated – the FB post indicates they are seeking volunteers," Saul pointed out.