Muslim Political Groups Back Harris: Can American Muslims Take down Trump?

On the basis of the lesser of two evils, Islamic groups in the United States are fighting to defeat former President Donald Trump, prevent him from returning to the White House, and ensure the success of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.

This comes despite President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which is now expanding to southern Lebanon, prompting many Muslim and Arab voters to turn away from the Democratic Party, endangering the party’s prospects with these communities.

Recent polls have shown widespread discontent and strong support for third-party candidates, such as Jill Stein of the Green Party and independent candidate Cornel West.

This highlights the importance of the electoral blocs' votes, including the Muslim vote, which could play a decisive role in several swing states that decide the identity of the new occupant of the White House.

Biden won the Muslim vote in 2020, with some polls showing more than 80% support, but Muslim support for Democrats has declined sharply since the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Serious Threat

On September 25, Emgage Action, one of the largest Muslim political groups in the United States, announced its endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris despite strong opposition to her policies in the Middle East. The group justified its decision by saying that bringing down former President Donald Trump was more important.

“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,” Emgage Action CEO Wa’el Alzayat told NBC News.

“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,” Alzayat said.

“We believe that supporting Harris is the only way to advance the anti-war agenda, and we see no pathway forward under a Donald Trump presidency,” he added.

Like other Muslim-American groups, Emgage Action has often sided with Democrats in the past, especially in the Trump era when his rhetoric and immigration policies have often targeted Muslims and Islamic countries.

Alzayat pointed to the so-called Muslim ban during Trump's term, his current threat to deport pro-Palestinian student protesters and more.

Alzayat said he and others have met with Trump advisers, including former Trump acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grennell, but he said, “We left very disappointed on the lack of commitments.”

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. 

In turn, Harris' campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriquez responded to the endorsement by saying the campaign is committed to continuing to work 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,” she said in a statement.

The Harris campaign noted that the vice president has been endorsed by a number of leaders in the Arab American and Muslim community, including the Black Muslim Leadership Council, Muslims for Harris-Walz, and state and local leaders including Assad Turfe, the Dearborn deputy county executive, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, among others.

Swing States

In contrast, a coalition of other American Muslim groups, the American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force, has urged American Muslim voters to vote for any presidential candidate who supports a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a U.S. arms embargo on the Israeli government, such as candidates Jill Stein, Cornel West, or Chase Oliver.

A recent poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found that Arab and Muslim American voters angry at U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza are shifting from Harris to Green Party candidate Jill Stein, in numbers that could deny the Democratic nominee a win in crucial states that will decide the November 5 election.

The poll found that 40% of Muslim voters in Michigan, home to a large Arab American community, supported Stein, while Trump received 18% and Harris received 12%.

Stein also leads Harris among Muslims in Arizona and Wisconsin, swing states with large Muslim populations, where Biden narrowly defeated Trump in 2020.

The CAIR poll found that Harris was the top choice of Muslim voters in Georgia and Pennsylvania, while Trump led in Nevada by 27%, just 1% point ahead of Harris. All are swing states that were narrowly decided in recent elections.

Arab and Muslim community leaders said that Harris campaign officials have rejected calls in closed-door meetings in Michigan and elsewhere to halt or limit U.S. arms shipments to “Israel.”

Stein has been campaigning strongly in support of Gaza, while Trump’s representatives have been meeting with Muslim groups and promising to bring peace faster than Harris can.

The Harris campaign declined to comment on the shift in support among Arabs and Muslims, and officials charged with reaching out to Muslims were not available for interviews.

Last week, the Uncommitted movement, a pro-Palestinian Democratic group, announced that it will not endorse Kamala Harris for president, but warned against the Trump presidency.

The Uncommitted movement arose out of organizing efforts to get people to vote ‘uncommitted’ in Democratic primaries earlier this year in protest of President Biden’s handling of the Israeli war on Gaza.

The movement represents the over 700,000 pro-Palestine voters who cast ‘uncommitted’ votes during the Democratic presidential primary.

In February, more than 100,000 people cast ‘uncommitted’ votes against Biden in Michigan’s primary election.

Muslim American Voters

In Philadelphia, which has a large Black Muslim population, activists have joined a national 'Abandon Harris' campaign, and helped organize protests during her last debate with Trump.

“We have options. If Trump pledges to end the war and bring home all hostages, it's game over for Harris,” Philadelphia CAIR co-chair Rabiul Chowdhury said.

In Georgia, where Biden won by 11,779 votes in 2020, activists are mobilizing about 12,000 voters to pledge not to vote for Harris unless the Biden administration moves by October 10 to stop all arms shipments to “Israel” and demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank.

Thousands of other voters have already signed similar pledges in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

In turn, Rep. Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, said he was concerned about the impact of the Gaza war on the Nov. 5 election.

On his part, Amir Ghaleb, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, the city with the highest immigrant population in the swing state and the first in the country to elect an all-Muslim city government, endorsed Trump last week.

Islam is the third largest religion in the United States after Christianity and Judaism. The US Constitution prohibits asking about religious identity in the general census conducted every 10 years.

About 3.45 million Americans identify as Muslim, or 1.1% of the country’s population, and the demographic tends to lean Democratic, according to the Pew Research Center.

With a large Muslim electorate in key swing states, they have the potential to influence the outcome of the presidential race.