President Joe Biden discounted his downswing in support among Arab and Muslim Americans in the face of Israel‘s offensive in Gaza.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which the president himself has described as “indiscriminate,” is causing widespread protests in the United States urging Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Polls show Biden slipping with Arab and Muslim Americans in critical swing states like Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia, and the conflict appears to be further exacerbating his poor approval ratings among voters under 35.
Biden addressed the topic for the first time before departing the White House on Thursday and alluded to stated plans from his predecessor and the likely Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, to ban Arabs and Muslims from entering the country should he win the presidency in 2024.
“Look, the president wants to put — the former president wants to put a ban on Arabs coming in the country,” Biden told reporters before boarding Marine One. “We’ll make sure that we understand who cares about the Arab population No. 1. No. 2, we’ve got a long way to go.”
Biden’s remarks echo similar comments made by his reelection campaign when confronted with the president’s declining support among black voters.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“When it comes to voters of color and if we’re worried, look, our campaign has been putting in the work to do everything we need to do to communicate with communities of color next fall, to make sure that they turn out,” Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager for Biden’s 2024 campaign, said in January.
He continued, “We know that we have to communicate to these constituencies about what this administration has done, we have to communicate with these constituencies about the dangers that the other side poses, and we’re going to do both, but voters of color are the ones who have the most at stake in this election, and we need to make sure that every single one of them understands the choice in front of them.”
