Arab-American support for Biden fell from 59% in 2020 to 17% now, the poll report said. Less than one-quarter of Arab Americans, 23%, identify as Democrats, down 17% since April, the report stated.
The poll marks the first time in AAI’s 26 years of polling Arab American voters that a majority of the group did not claim to prefer the Democratic Party, the report added.
“This poll was rather shocking,” AAI President James Zogby said during a briefing on the poll results. “The dissatisfaction with President Biden is really quite significant… His numbers are dangerously low, more so than I’ve ever seen for a Democratic candidate for president.”
Two-thirds of Arab Americans have a negative view of Biden, the report stressed. Slightly over two-thirds, 67%, have a negative view of his response to the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the report emphasized.
Similarly, 68% of Arab Americans do not believe that the United States should send weapons or other military equipment to Israel, the report highlighted. Sixty-eight percent of Arab Americans also believe that the US should use its influence to urge a ceasefire, the report said.
However, the decline in support for Biden and the Democratic Party may not necessarily translate to a significant increase in support for Republicans, third parties or other alternative presidential candidates.
“The category, as it comes to mean something for voters, is that ‘I’m not in this one, I’m not in that one, I’m not voting in their primaries and so here’s where I am.’ It’s a parking lot,” Zogby stated, in response to a question from Sputnik. “As far as voting for a third party, Arab Americans don’t have a history of that.”
The poll found that 17.4% of Arab Americans would vote for Biden, 40% for former US President Donald Trump and 25.1% were unsure. Furthermore, 13.7% said they would vote for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and 3.8% for People’s Party candidate Cornel West.
Zogby stressed that he does not expect Kennedy or West to do “significantly well” with Arab Americans, despite the drop in support for Biden. It is a “likely prospect” that Arab Americans stay home instead of voting.