Joe Biden's support of Israel has deeply angered his Muslim supporters. Will it hurt his reelection chances?

 

Muslim protesters at Washington DC. Reuters. 

Arab and Muslim supporters of Joe Biden are angry at his support of Israel in their war against Hamas and it could cost him votes in the 2024 presidential race. Reuters. Muslims are demanding that Biden push for a cease fire in response to the war, which was launched by Hamas and involved brutal actions and murder. Muslims make up small but impactful number of voters, especially in three swing states, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Michigan and Pennsylvania Biden's margin of victory was slim enough that if Muslim voters stayed home he would have lost the states. Such voters would likely not go to Donald Trump but they could either stay home or vote 3rd party. Biden has been relatively pro-Muslim but his support of Israel has caused him to be labeled as a "Zionist" and has lead to some of his own staffers to quit. 

My Comment:

What is funny is that many members of the American Jewish community are angry with Biden and the Democrats as well. They are understandably upset that the voices on the left that are defending or even praising Hamas for their attack on Israel. Some of those folks may even leave the Democratic Party over it and could vote for Trump in 2024, especially if the war in Israel does not go well. 

As for these Muslim complaints, what did they think was going to happen? Though here are more out and out anti-Israel and anti-Semitic people on the left than the right, the Democratic Party is still fairly pro-Israel over all. There is a reason that The Squad has been targets for the right for a long timer, their anti-Jewish comments drive a wedge between the Democratic Party. 

These pro-Hamas Muslims are likely to be politically homeless. Neither the mainstream Republicans or Democrats are pro-Hamas or anti-Israel. Only on the fringes of the far right and far left do you see open support for Hamas like these folks are demanding. I can't see any candidate running appealing to these people and most likely they will stay home. 

I also don't really see Biden bending to their demands. Though he has been criticized as not being pro-Israel enough, he is genuinely on that side, even though his actions have struck me as totally incompetent. I think he does in fact like Israel, even though he's not a fan of Benjamin Netanyahu. Plus he doesn't want to anger his pro-Israel donors. 

There really isn't a move that Biden can do that won't piss either group off and given that Jews are a more important demographic for Democrats than Muslims, I don't see Muslims getting what they want here. 

I do think that this could cost Biden Michigan at least. Michigan has one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States and they aren't going to vote for Biden now. They aren't going to vote for Trump either, given that he supports Israel even more than Biden, so they are likely to stay home. It could hurt him in other states as well, Ohio and Pennsylvania were mentioned but I don't think they are the only ones. Wisconsin was thin enough that even angering the small number of Muslims in the state that it could cost Biden it as well.