(Adnkronos) – Arab American voters will largely vote for Democrats in the midterm elections, a drastic reversal from the 2024 presidential election when they were evenly split between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. This is according to a Washington Post/Schar School poll, which found that 58% of registered Arab American voters say they will vote for Democrats in Congress, compared to 34% who will vote for Republicans. The same poll records that 41% of these voters say they voted for Harris two years ago and 39% for Trump.
The shift towards Democrats is set against a backdrop where Arab Americans express very low approval of Trump’s handling of the economy and wars in the Middle East, and denounce an “unfriendly” attitude towards them by Republicans and the president who continues to publicly accuse Abdul El Sayed, a Democratic candidate in Michigan to become the first Muslim senator, of being a jihadist. Arab Americans number 3.5 million, which is one percent of the US population. A quarter live in the Midwest, particularly in Michigan, where they make up 2% of the population.
Two years ago, Trump managed to gain ground among Arab American voters by exploiting anger over the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza and promising community leaders that he would bring peace to the Middle East. However, the conditions of this peace that Trump continues to claim have created an even greater disappointment: 80% of Arab American voters disapprove of the handling of the conflict in Gaza, 75% of the war in Iran. And while eight out of 10 respondents want to reduce military support for Israel, six out of ten ask to cancel it entirely. In general, 58% of Americans want to reduce or end support for Israel.
