As President Joe Biden campaigns across the country to try and win reelection, it appears that many in the Arab community, which has been very loyal to Democrats in past years, no longer view the president favorably, given his stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
Biden’s campaign manager recently traveled to suburban Detroit, Michigan, and was met with fiery criticism from Arab Americans who rebuked the Biden administration’s policy on the ongoing Middle East war between Israel and Hamas, a terrorist organization.
Nervous Biden Campaign Quietly Visits Michigan to Appease Muslim Voters Angry Over Israel Policyhttps://t.co/XxiFH1tJEF
— RedState (@RedState) January 27, 2024
The head of Biden’s reelection campaign, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, led several advisers to Dearborn, Michigan, where multiple Arab Americans declined to speak with them, expressing their anger over the president’s support of Israel, America’s strongest ally.
Some Arab Americans even began chanting, “Abandon Biden,” at a local mosque before Rodriguez visited Dearborn.
Considering the fiery criticism from those in the Arab community, a meeting between Rodriguez and Muslim leaders was canceled, according to a deputy Wayne County executive, Assad I. Turfe.
Turfe said many Arab Americans opposed speaking with Rodriguez. The Wayner County executive pointed out that the community, once loyal to the Democratic Party, isn’t anymore.
“I don’t believe that the Biden administration, at the senior top level, understand how big of a problem this is and how upset and angry the community is,” Turfe said.
The Israel-Hamas war has sparked division between the Jewish suburbs of Detroit and residents of Dearborn, the city with the largest population of Arab Americans in the U.S.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud (D) noted that the Biden campaign sent Rodriguez to try and convince Arab Americans to vote for the president after he decided to send F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a nation the mayor accused of “murdering” Arabs.
“Little bit of advice — if you’re planning on sending campaign officials to convince the Arab American community on why they should vote for your candidate, don’t do it on the same day you announce selling fighter jets to the tyrants murdering our family members,” Hammoud wrote on X.
Michigan state Rep. Alabas Farhat (D) said he received an invitation from the Biden campaign to travel with Rodriguez to Dearborn but declined it.
“It’s unrealistic to expect that political conversations will re-secure our support for the president when only a ceasefire can truly re-open that door,” Farhat said.
