Biden Faces Sharp Drop in Arab American Support... Political Burden Grows Amid Israel War

Arab American Support for Biden
Approval Rating Drops from 59% in 2020 to 17.4% This Year

Support for U.S. President Joe Biden among Arab Americans has sharply declined as he seeks re-election next year. As the U.S. fully backs Israel, which is at war after being attacked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, resentment among Arab Americans is growing. Following the Ukraine war, the Israel conflict is adding to President Biden's political burdens.

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According to a poll conducted by the Arab American Institute (AAI) from October 23 to 27 among 500 Arab Americans, only 17.4% of respondents said, "If the presidential election were held today, I would vote for President Biden."

Support for former President Donald Trump, a Republican, stood at 40%, outpacing President Biden by 22.6 percentage points. Independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. received 13.7% support, and independent candidate Cornell West garnered 3.8%. Additionally, 25.1% responded with "Don't know."

Arab American support for President Biden was as high as 59% in 2020. In just three years, his approval has dropped by 42 percentage points. Support for former President Trump increased by 5 percentage points during the same period, and support for third-party candidates rose by 13 percentage points. This indicates that those who left Biden's camp mostly shifted to third-party candidates rather than to Trump.

Party affiliation support also saw a significant decline for the Democratic Party, to which President Biden belongs. Respondents identifying as Democrats dropped to 23%, a 17 percentage point decrease from the April survey. This is the lowest level recorded since polling began in 1996. Those identifying as Republicans accounted for 32%, and independents made up 31%.

Evaluations of President Biden's foreign policy were also poor. Regarding Biden's response to the current violence between Israel and Palestine, 67% of respondents expressed a negative view. Furthermore, 68% opposed U.S. arms support to Israel.

President Biden has taken a conciliatory stance toward Iran, including efforts to restore the Iran nuclear deal that was abandoned by his predecessor, former President Trump. However, criticism of Biden's Iran policy is intensifying after Hamas, supported by Iran, launched a surprise attack on Israel.

Meanwhile, the White House stated on the same day that Israel and Hamas should consider a temporary ceasefire. Since October 27, Israel has deployed ground forces in the Gaza Strip, expanding the scale of its operations.

John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council (NSC), said, "Now is not the time for a general ceasefire," but added, "A humanitarian temporary ceasefire could be valuable." While opposing a formal ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, he suggested it is time to consider a temporary halt in fighting to allow humanitarian aid.

Regarding the recent Ukraine-Israel aid package requested by the White House from Congress, Kirby criticized the Republican majority in the House for attempting to separate the Israel aid bill, saying, "We should not play political games with national security." He further indicated that even if the Republican-led separate Israel aid bill passes Congress, the president might veto it, stating, "The president will not do anything that does not meet our core national needs."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.