These Arab-Americans were among Biden's biggest fans. Now they're warning they — and others — could abandon him in 2024.
These Arab-Americans were among Biden’s biggest fans. Now they’re warning they — and others — could abandon him in 2024.
But after watching how Biden has navigated the Israel-Hamas war over the last two weeks, Zayid said she can no longer vote for him in 2024.As Israel prepares for a likely ground invasion to retaliate against Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7, Zayid is among the many fearful of what’s to come for Gaza. She has a 7-year-old godson in the region.
“I have been one of his biggest fans,” she said of Biden. “I feel betrayed. I feel like my humanity is not equal to anyone else’s humanity.” She doesn’t often speak to the press, she said, but “my family is going to be dead and I can’t be silent.” “The voters are heartbroken. They don’t want to vote for Trump. But right now they’re asking themselves, ‘How can we vote for the other side given the refusal to call upon Israel to abide by a ceasefire and the continued rhetoric that we’re seeing here domestically?’” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of the Muslim advocacy group Emgage. “What I’m most concerned about is actually not whether they’re going to vote for Trump or not, but whether these voters are going to stay home.
But for Arab and Muslim American leaders, the issue isn’t what Biden’s record was before the war, it’s what it’s been since then.