Message to President Biden: Muslim voters matter!

Get the Point!

When war broke out in Gaza following the October 7th Hamas surprise attack which found over 1,400 Israelis killed or taken hostage, President Joe Biden, to the delight of many Democrats and Republicans alike, immediately defended Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas.

Conversely, as the Palestinian death toll quickly doubled, tripled, and quadrupled the Israeli casualty numbers, the American President offered no sympathy, exclaiming, "I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed...I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s a price of waging war."

Ouch!

When I first read the president's words last month, I rewrote them in my notes with the following slight alteration:

"I have no notion that the Israelis are telling the truth about how many people were killed by Hamas...I’m sure innocents have been killed, but it’s a price of waging war."

See the difference? Verily, had President Biden made my slightly altered comment, he would have been branded an anti-Semite by some—and an enemy of Israel and/or Zionism by others. 

Thus, the backlash to President Biden's original comments was swift and soon thereafter, he called several Muslim American leaders to the White House and reportedly told them, "I’m sorry. I’m disappointed in myself."

Ok…

While the Biden apology was seemingly enough for some, there are many millions of Muslim Americans (and their supporters) who continue to point to the president's cruelly insensitive original comment as a reason to withhold support for his 2024 reelection campaign. 

If you've read this far and find yourself saying, "so what," then perhaps you are a Republican that's enjoying this growing fissure among the Democratic coalition? Or, you're a Democratic Christian fundamentalist who, on some level, maintains a politically incorrect notion that Israel is justified in any acts that it takes against Palestinians or other Muslims in the region because in your twisted logic, all Muslims are infidels, terrorists, or some combination of the two?

I don't know…

But if you've read this far and wonder what's the long term backlash that President Biden could face, I remind that Muslim Americans were VERY instrumental in voting for Biden over Donald Trump during the 2020 election. 

Nada Al-Hanooti, a Palestinian American who leads "Emgage," a Muslim voter advocacy group, weighed in on Biden's insensitive comments by reminding, “In 2020, the Muslim community was instrumental in turning out the vote for Joe Biden. We did a lot of get-out-the-vote efforts.”

Ms. Al-Hanooti

Lest we forget that there were over over 200,000 Muslim voters who turned out in droves in support of Biden in Michigan, a state that he won in 2020 by a relatively scant 155,000 votes. In essence, had Muslim voters stayed home in Michigan, or supported Trump in greater numbers, we would be deep into Trump's second term at this very moment!

As 2023 draws to an end, hardly a day goes by that doesn't find some major poll showing that Biden vs. Trump Part II is a statistical dead heat; the reasons for this are varied, but suffice it to say that Biden is gearing up for a titanic fight next year to earn a second term.

The pressure is on President Biden to not just stop the catastrophic death toll in Gaza, but to use his platform to push for the very two state solution that none of his predecessors were able to achieve…

The projected closeness of next year's presidential race reminds that states with high numbers of Muslim voters, like Michigan and Minnesota, will be crucial for Biden to hold onto his position, what with those two Midwestern enclaves holding 25 crucial Electoral College votes in tandem. Such is why Mr. Biden's apology was important, but far more important for him is the critical need for policy pushes in the form of urging Israel to continue to stand down in Gaza to let the diplomats foment full hostage/prisoner exchanges—while relief agencies begin the hard work of providing food, clothing, and temporary shelter until the homes and buildings that Israel's military has razed since October 7th are fully rebuilt. 

Stay tuned...