One of the nation’s largest Muslim political groups endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday despite fierce opposition to her Middle East policy, saying that stopping former President Donald Trump is paramount.
“We feel it’s our obligation to speak truthfully to our communities as they grapple with perhaps the most difficult electoral choice they’ve ever had to make,” Wa’el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage Action, told NBC News. “We are very clear-eyed and honest that the Vice President still has a ways to go, but we feel there’s a fighting chance to move her on those issues and prevent the very real threat of a Donald Trump presidency.”
Like other Muslim-American groups, Emgage Action, which aims to turn out Muslim voters and build the community’s power, has often sided with Democrats in the past, especially in the Trump era when his rhetoric and immigration policies often targeted Muslims and Islamic countries.
But President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which is now expanding into Southern Lebanon, has turned many Muslim and Arab voters against Democrats, endangering the party’s prospects with these communities as polls show widespread disenchantment and strong support for anti-war third party candidates like the Green Party’s Jill Stein and independent Cornel West.
Last week, a coalition of other Muslim-American groups calling itself the American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force snubbed Harris by urging American Muslims to vote for “any presidential candidate of their choosing who supports a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a US arms embargo on the Israeli government, such as candidates Dr. Jill Stein, Dr. Cornel West or [Libertarian Party nominee] Chase Oliver.”
Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, has been trying to capitalize on the frustration with Democrats to court Arab voters for itself.
Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, the city with the highest percentage of immigrant residents in the key battleground state and the first in the country to elect an all-Muslim city government, endorsed Trump on Monday.
Alzayat, of Emgage, said his group respected those in the community who are making different decisions. And he acknowledged the difficulty of backing Harris, pointing to Palestinian and Lebanese-American staffers and supporters of the group.
But he said supporting Harris is the best way for opponents of the war in Gaza to advance their agenda and that Trump represents too dire a threat to American Muslims for them to stay home.
“If we agree that we want this war to end, and we agree that either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris will be commander in chief, then we believe that supporting her is the only way to advance the anti-war agenda,” said Alzayat. “We just see no pathway forward under a Donald Trump presidency.”
He points to the so-called Muslim ban during Trump’s previous term, his current threat to deport pro-Palestinian student protesters, and more.
Alzayat said he and others have met with Trump advisers as well, including former Trump Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grennell, but he said “we left very disappointed on the lack of commitments.”
Trump is a staunch ally of Israel and its controversial leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, and has spoken dimmly about the rights of Palestinians. So Alzayat and others say Israel would feel even more emboldened under Trump and receive less pressure to curb civilian casualties or end the war.
By endorsing Harris and encouraging Muslim voters to show up, Emgage hopes to at least get a seat at the table of a potential Harris administration to be able to lobby her in a more favorable direction.
“We hold President Biden responsible for continuing to provide the Netanyahu government with weapons.,” Alzayat said, drawing a distinction with Harris. “And we are pledging to push the next administration.”
They have “hints and hopes” that Harris would diverge from Biden’s if elected, Alzayat said — but he acknowledged, “that’s all we’ve got.”
Harris’ campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriquez responded to the endorsement by saying that the campaign remains committed to working with Muslim leaders.
“We understand this endorsement is coming at a time when there is great pain and loss in the Muslim and Arab American communities,” Chavez Rodriquez said in a statement. “The Vice President will continue to relentlessly work to bring the war in Gaza to an end such that Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, security, and self-determination. As she has over the past year, the Vice President will continue to work to prevent the conflict from widening throughout the region.”
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