Green Party candidate Jill Stein told Reuters on Sunday that widespread anger among Arab Americans and Muslims over US support for Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon could cost Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris the election.
Polls show that Harris and her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, are in a tight race for the November 5 election, with Stein garnering just 1% support nationally, as she did in the 2016 election.
But Stein has seen growing support among Arab Americans and Muslims in battleground states like Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin, where they have large populations that helped President Joe Biden narrowly win the 2020 election.
Stein has sought the support of those groups while demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate US arms embargo on Israel. An August poll conducted by the Council on American Islamic Relations showed her slipping support from Harris in those swing states.
“The Democrats have lost the Muslim American and Arab American vote,” Stein told Reuters after a rally of about 100 people in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn on Sunday. “They’re going to lose so many swing states that they won’t win and they can’t win.”
He said Democrats could win back those voters if they implemented an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and halted arms sales to Israel, but there is no sign of such action.
The Biden administration, along with several US allies such as France, has called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire along the Israel-Lebanon border and has been trying unsuccessfully for months to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Spoilers”, when asked about her potential role in taking votes from Harris and helping Trump in those states, Stein said it would be “terrible” for Trump to become another president, but higher rental costs, wars Given this, four more years of Democratic rule would also be “terrible”. in Gaza and Lebanon, and attacks on civil liberties.
He said, “This is a very serious situation that will continue under both Democrats and Republicans. That’s why we say no less in this race.”
The Democratic Party called Stein “a spoiler candidate” who had no path to victory.
Adrienne Watson, senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee, said, “She put Donald Trump in the White House in 2016 and she’s ready to do it again. A vote for Stein is a vote for Trump.”
Harris has tried to ease the concerns of Arab American and Muslim voters and met with a small group of local leaders in Flint, Michigan on Friday.
Muslim advocacy group MGAZ Action last month endorsed Harris, saying it disagreed with her position on the war in Gaza but said Trump posed a greater threat. A separate group called Arab Americans for Harris-Walz launched last week.
On Monday, a campaign group called “Abandon Harris” said it was supporting Stein, citing the shared responsibility to stand up against oppression “and use all our power to stop the carnage.” – Wherever it may arise.”
Trump is also trying to court Arab and Muslim voters and his campaign on Saturday opened an office in Hamtramck, a Detroit suburb whose Yemeni American mayor Amer Ghalib has endorsed him.
“For Arab American and Muslim leaders in Detroit, the overwhelming choice is between Jill Stein and Donald Trump, and we argue that there is only one person who has brought lasting peace to the region, and that is Donald Trump,” Richard Grenell. Said, who has held dozens of meetings with these voters in Michigan, Arizona and other important states.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
