(NBC) As Israel’s U.S-backed war against Hamas intensifies and Palestinian civilian deaths mount, a growing number of swing-state Muslim American and Arab American leaders are warning President Joe Biden that he is losing support from their communities in ways that could cost him in next year’s election.
Muslim Americans overwhelmingly backed Biden in 2020 and would be expected to again in 2024, especially if his opponent is former President Donald Trump, who has revived his plans to ban many Muslims from entering the United States.
But in multiple battleground states that Biden won with thin margins last time, a growing chorus of community leaders say his handling of the war in Gaza and Islamophobia at home jeopardize his path to victory in the Electoral College, with many Muslim American and Arab American voters saying they plan to either stay home next November, vote for a write-in or a third-party presidential candidate, or simply leave the top of the ticket blank.
