The U.S political lobby AAPAC, or the Arab American Political Action Committee, announced Tuesday morning that it had decided not to support either of the two major party candidates in the presidential race and would not endorse Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. The lobby announcement is another signal of the danger facing Harris, who as a Democratic candidate is the more natural choice for Muslims and Arabs, and largely needs their support.
It is customary in the U.S. that, as the election date approaches, labor unions, political lobbies and also major newspapers endorse the candidate who, after examining the facts, they think is the most suitable to serve as president. In its announcement Tuesday morning, AAPAC said that it had decided to refrain from giving such an endorsement to any of the candidates for this election.
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Neither candidate got the Arab American lobby's endorsement for president
(Photo: Jeff Kowalsky and Mandel Ngan/ AFP)
"Both candidates have endorsed genocide in Gaza and war in Lebanon," AAPAC said in its statement. "We simply cannot give our votes to either Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump, who blindly support the criminal Israeli government."
This is the first time since the establishment of the lobby in 1998 that it has refrained from declaring support for a presidential candidate. The PAC usually endorses Democrats.
Arab and Muslim Americans overwhelmingly backed President Joe Biden in 2020 but have been vocal opponents of U.S. support for Israel, especially the Biden administration's support since October 7, which has eroded their backing of Democrats.
Trump has historically had low approval from that community due to past statements and his policy of a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority nations when he was in office. Like Harris and Biden, Trump has also been a vocal supporter of Israel.
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A Mulsim woman in Michigan votes uncommitted in the state's Democratic Party primary
(Photo: Rebecca Cook/Reuters)
During the Democratic primaries at the beginning of the year, an Arab-Muslim protest movement against Biden took shape and, at its peak, Muslims who came to the polling stations in Michigan voted uncommitted, as a sign that if the Biden administration continued on its way in support of Israel - that the voting bloc would will abstain and not vote for him in the elections in November
There is particularly great significance: in the state of Michigan, which divides 15 electors in the elections, and where there is a large Muslim population. Since the battle there is quite close (according to recent polls, Harris leads by less than a percentage point, deep within the range of sampling error), if they do not go to the polls they could hand Trump the victory in the state and possibly in the U.S. as a whole.
Trump has historically had low approval from that community due to past statements and his policy of a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority nations when he was in office. Like Harris and Biden, Trump has also been a vocal supporter of Israel.
Not gaining AAPAC's support is not surprising to the Trump campaign and is not expected to cause and changes. On the other hand, other Arab organizations have recently called on Arab and Muslim voters to vote for Harris despite their displeasure with her conduct, arguing that Trump's rise to power would be even worse for them.
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