Arab-American Voters Divided Over Biden, Trump

World

November 3rd, 11:58am

Washington- Moaz Al-Omari

Many analyses are trying to predict the choice of Arab and Muslim voters in the US presidential elections (AFP/File Photo)

Many analyses are trying to predict the choice of Arab and Muslim voters in the US presidential elections. While some opinion polls have shown that a large percentage of Arab Americans tend to vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, other surveys have found that they prefer the renewal of Republican President Donald Trump’s term. The number of Americans of Arab descent in the United States is estimated at three to five million people, which is approximately 2 percent of the total population of the country. While this percentage does not directly affect the lucks of any of the presidential candidates, it may constitute an important factor in local and legislative elections, and in some indecisive states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. According to the latest Arab-American Institute polls, Biden is the preferred candidate among Muslim voters (60 percent compared to 30 percent in favor of Trump) and among the Catholics (55 percent compared to 43 percent for Trump). Biden is popular among younger American voters of Arab origins (67 percent) and older adults (66 percent). The same poll indicates that the Democratic candidate is likely to obtain a greater number of votes from Americans of Arab descent, and even a greater percentage than that obtained by Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. On the other hand, some analysts suggest that the Arab American community will support Trump, based on the positions taken by the US administration regarding the economy, tax cuts, and conservative social values. The votes of Americans of Arab descent in Michigan will be of high importance, as they represent around five percent of the total electorate, and in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where they represent between 1.7 and 2 percent of potential voters. Meanwhile, the poll found that 40 percent of Arab Americans attach great importance in these elections to the issue of “deteriorating race relations in the United States”, followed by “jobs and economy” (23 percent), “health care” (21 percent), “the environment and climate change” (17 percent) and “social security” (10 percent). On all of these issues, with the exception of “jobs and economy,” Biden was favored by Trump by a large margin. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the only foreign policy issue mentioned in a list of public concerns and was listed as a top priority by only 5 percent of the Arab American electorate. But when asked about the main issue in the Middle East, 45 percent of Arab Americans said that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was one of their most important concerns.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2602986/arab-american-voters-divided-over-biden-trump