How anger over the war in Gaza may have shaped some voters’ choices in the election

Many of Vice President Kamala Harris’ rallies in the closing days of the campaign were interrupted by people angry about the mounting death toll in Gaza and Lebanon and the Biden administration’s support for Israel. That anger may have been expressed at the polls on Election Day. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, joins John Yang to discuss.
John Yang:
Many of Vice President Kamala Harris rallies in the closing days of the campaign were interrupted by people angry about the mounting death toll in Gaza and Lebanon and the Biden administration’s support for Israel. That anger may have been expressed at the polls in Dearborn, Michigan, where 55 percent of the residents are of Middle Eastern descent.
Four years ago, President Biden got 69 percent of the vote. This year, Harris got 36. James Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute. He’s also director of Zogby Research, which conducts surveys in the Middle East. That drop in Dearborn of support, was that all Gaza or was there something else going on?
James Zogby, President, Arab American Institute:
I think there were two factors. Gaza and Lebanon obviously were central. I think the other was a failure of the Harris campaign to reach out the candidate directly to reach out to Arab Americans. There’s a great Tip O’Neill story when he lost his first election and went to his neighbor and said, did you vote for me? And she said no. And he said why not? And she said he never asked me. They know Donald Trump and they, many of them know what to expect. He came to them, he spoke to them, he risked it, she didn’t. And that makes a difference.
John Yang:
But if they’re angry about Gaza and Lebanon, they were supporting a president who told Benjamin Netanyahu, do whatever it takes, 80 percent of those in the exit polls who said that U.S. support for Israel is not strong enough voted for Trump. How do you reconcile that?
James Zogby:
Look, the question of looking at the polls, the Arab American polls, we found that there always has been a 35 percent or so Republican vote. I mean, in every life a little rain must fall and we have Arab American Republicans. The increase for Trump came from a punish Democrat vote. They know what they’re getting. And yet they said, we’re going to send a message to Democrats.
There also was, I think, another factor here, and that is in Hamtramck, for example, there was the LGBTQ book issue. And the Republicans said to the mayor and to the imams, you know, we’re with you on this. We’ll keep those dirty books out of the kids in school. And that made a difference there, too.
So there were these factors of the Trump people speaking to them, Donald Trump coming personally to them, JD Vance going directly to them, and nothing from the Harris side. She had good staff reaching out, but there’s nothing like the candidate directly making an appeal.
John Yang:
Well, talking about that, I mean, the final Friday of the campaign, we saw Donald Trump in a halal cafe in Dearborn with the mayor of Hamtramck. Is this outreach, is this sort of open dialogue, open door going to continue in the presidency, do you think?
James Zogby:
I don’t think so. And I think, you know, there’s a reckoning that will come. People have buyer’s remorse. It wasn’t a shotgun wedding. It was a blind date wedding. Some of them know what they’re going to get. Some of them have hope against hope that they’ll get something different, but frankly, they’re not going to get anything different.
And I think Donald Trump’s been very clear about that they’re not going to get anything different. But they were punishing Democrats or they were voting their Republican values and they were voting for the guy that came to him. Look, this is a community that is hurting. They’re desperate. And they’re very traumatized by what’s happening. Somebody comes to them and says, I’m for peace and I’ll be with you. So they swallowed their doubt and they said, we’re going to do it and we’re going to teach the Democrats a lesson.
John Yang:
But you seem to be saying that they want peace, but they may not get it?
James Zogby:
They want peace. But Donald Trump’s idea of peace, I think, is the peace of a graveyard. I don’t think it’s going to be a peace that’s going to be based on justice or on any recognition of Palestinian rights. He’s never shown that to be the case. His four year record is exactly the opposite.
And I think the steps that Netanyahu is taking in just the last two days, announcing that Gaza will be evacuated in the north and no one is going to come back to their homes, which have been destroyed mostly. But he’s also not going to let aid in because in defiance of the Biden administration requirement that aid come in because he said there’s nobody left there. Why? Because he’s evicted them all.
Netanyahu knows that with Trump, he’ll be able to have a free hand. He’s already had a free hand with Biden, but a freer hand. And people, I think, are going to be deeply disappointed by what Donald Trump will do and angry.
John Yang:
You’re very active in the Democratic Party. You’re chairman of the DNC’s Ethnic Council.
James Zogby:
Yeah.
John Yang:
What are you saying that the party should do to try to repair this damage, this relationship?
James Zogby:
Well, look, it’s not just with my community, but with a whole bunch of ethnic communities that they need to repair. Look, this is the white working class. They’re not the non-college educated whites that people talk about. They’re actually the immigrant ethnic communities that built the Democratic Party and feel abandoned by the Democratic Party.
And the Democratic Party has to have a more effective outreach to white voters. Why were they so prone to support Donald Trump? Because they feel abandoned. Because they feel that nobody is listening to them. And they’re mad at Democrats for NAFTA. They’re mad at Democrats for not paying attention when they lost their jobs. Democrats made the choice of going for liberal, moderate Republicans when I’m not sure there are any right now.
And certainly Liz Cheney isn’t the mediator to bring them on board instead of speaking to working class people about their needs and hopes. No talk about universal health care. No talk about raising the minimum wage. No talk about benefits that are required and needed by working class people to bring jobs back. Joe Biden had a good record. But Kamala Harris didn’t emphasize the job creation part for working class people. That was what was needed.
And so, yeah, there’s outreach needed everywhere, but among Arab Americans, bringing us in and talking to us. Joe Biden never met with Arab Americans in his entire time. When I’ve spoken to other presidents about it, they were shocked because they, Bill Clinton met with us every month or so, or Al Gore did. Barack Obama met with us or people on his key staff did. We had no outreach for Arab Americans in this White House. It’s too late.
John Yang:
James Zogby, thank you very much.
James Zogby:
Thank you.