(CNN) For Democratic pro-Palestinian activists, Donald Trump’s reelection delivered a bitter vindication.
Led by the Uncommitted National Movement, they spent months pushing and pleading with the Biden administration to scale back its support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Their warning had been consistent and direct: Not only did Democrats risk collapsing support among Arab American and Muslim voters in Michigan, but the conflict — and the continuous flow of military aid to the Israeli government — could depress enthusiasm among the coalition of young, mostly progressive-minded voters who proved key to Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.
“We told them that the impact of Gaza was going [to] be bigger than just the Arab community. It’s why the turnout was lower in college areas and among young black voters,” said James Zogby, co-founder of the Arab American Institute and a Democratic National Committee member for more than 30 years. “From the polling we’ve been doing over the last year, we saw it had an impact. And it certainly had an impact on my community.”
