WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Support for US President Joe Biden among Arab Americans has declined by 42% since 2020, with the group\u2019s support dropping further in recent weeks amid the Biden administration\u2019s response to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, according to an Arab American Institute (AAI) poll released Tuesday.
Arab-American support for Biden fell from 59% in 2020 to 17% now, the poll report said. Less than one-quarter of Arab Americans, 23%, identify as Democrats, down 17% since April, the report stated.
The poll marks the first time in AAI\u2019s 26 years of polling Arab American voters that a majority of the group did not claim to prefer the Democratic Party, the report added.
\u201cThis poll was rather shocking,\u201d AAI President James Zogby said during a briefing on the poll results. \u201cThe dissatisfaction with President Biden is really quite significant\u2026 His numbers are dangerously low, more so than I\u2019ve ever seen for a Democratic candidate for president.\u201d
Two-thirds of Arab Americans have a negative view of Biden, the report stressed. Slightly over two-thirds, 67%, have a negative view of his response to the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the report emphasized.
Similarly, 68% of Arab Americans do not believe that the United States should send weapons or other military equipment to Israel, the report highlighted. Sixty-eight percent of Arab Americans also believe that the US should use its influence to urge a ceasefire, the report said.
However, the decline in support for Biden and the Democratic Party may not necessarily translate to a significant increase in support for Republicans, third parties or other alternative presidential candidates.
\u201cThe category, as it comes to mean something for voters, is that \u2018I\u2019m not in this one, I\u2019m not in that one, I\u2019m not voting in their primaries and so here\u2019s where I am.\u2019 It\u2019s a parking lot,\u201d Zogby stated, in response to a question from Sputnik. \u201cAs far as voting for a third party, Arab Americans don\u2019t have a history of that.\u201d
The poll found that 17.4% of Arab Americans would vote for Biden, 40% for former US President Donald Trump and 25.1% were unsure. Furthermore, 13.7% said they would vote for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and 3.8% for People\u2019s Party candidate Cornel West.
Zogby stressed that he does not expect Kennedy or West to do \u201csignificantly well\u201d with Arab Americans, despite the drop in support for Biden. It is a \u201clikely prospect\u201d that Arab Americans stay home instead of voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n