Support among Arab voters in Pennsylvania for the campaign to reelect President Joe Biden has collapsed, with former President Donald Trump now polling higher with the demographic, according to polling data released Thursday.
The poll included “900 Arab voters in four key states: Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia,” according to the Arab American Institute, which commissioned the poll.
Of the four states polled, support among Arab American voters for Biden was highest in Pennsylvania, where just 29 percent supported the Democrat for reelection.
The Keystone State was followed by Virginia, where 22 percent of Arab American voters support Biden. The current president was supported by 15 percent of Arab voters in Michigan and only 8 percent in Florida.
Across the four states, the pollsters reported that support for Trump among Arab voters was about 33 percent, which they noted mirrored his 2020 support from the demographic.
Pollsters at John Zogby Strategies conducted the survey between April 9 and May 11 and predicted a confidence rating of 3.3 percent. They reported 150 Pennsylvanians were interviewed as part of the survey.
The survey also found that 79 percent of Arab voters in the four states now hold an unfavorable view of Biden, while 56 percent hold an unfavorable view of Trump.
According to the Arab American Institute, “The simple reason why Biden’s numbers and ratings are so low is, in a word, Gaza.”
Pollsters found 60 percent of respondents said the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that began following the terrorist group’s October 7 attacks is one of their three most important political issues.
Worse for Biden, pollsters reported that 88 percent of respondents “say they have a negative view of the way Biden has handled the war,” with animosity spread evenly across Republican, Democratic and independent voters who are Arabs.
However, the Arab American Institute claimed the poll showed Biden could win back support form Arab voters with a radical change in his policy regarding the war, with 60 percent of respondents claiming they would be more likely to vote for Biden specifically if he “were to demand an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza or if he were to suspend diplomatic support and arms shipments to Israel until they implement a ceasefire and withdraw forces from Gaza.”
General election polls showing a 2024 rematch between Trump and Biden remain highly competitive in Pennsylvania, with the Real Clear Polling aggregate of polls showing the former president polling 2.3 percent ahead of his successor.
The lack of support for Biden among Arabs comes as the Democrat’s campaign recently announced an “eight figure” outreach program to black voters that began with a Philadelphia speech at Girard College featuring both the president and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
