Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be facing growing dissatisfaction among members of the Muslim community. She was recently criticized by a prominent Muslim-American organization for appearing at a campaign event with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on Thursday.
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The American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force condemned the appearance, referring to Cheney as a “torture defender” and pointing out that Harris is alienating key demographic groups.
The task force, a coalition of Muslim political organizations, slammed Harris in a press release for platforming Cheney, referring to her support for policies associated with the Bush-Cheney administration, including the use of torture in interrogations.
“Vice President Harris should have never hosted a campaign event alongside Liz Cheney, an anti-Muslim bigot and far-right war hawk who continues to openly endorse the crime of torture, including waterboarding,” the coalition declared. They further stated that “the Harris campaign’s decision to platform Cheney is an insult to every American who worked to oppose the Bush-Cheney administration’s criminal policies and to everyone around the world who died due to those policies.”
The coalition argued that “Liz Cheney’s current opposition to Donald Trump does not excuse her bigotry or erase her support for torture.”
Liz Cheney worked in the State Department during the Bush administration and spent years defending its policies, according to the press release.
This sentiment reflects broader dissatisfaction among American Muslim voters who have also been critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s approach to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly the war in Gaza. They argue that the administration has not done enough to stop Israel’s military campaign to destroy Hamas after its operatives murdered Israeli civilians in a surprise attack on October 7, 2023.
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The Harris campaign seems to understand that the vice president is losing support among Muslim voters. Phil Gordon, one of Harris’ senior advisers, recently met with Muslim and Arab leaders to address concerns about U.S. support for Israel, according to Reuters. However, this did not appear to assuage their concerns. “It’s too little, too late,” said Lebanese-American attorney Ali Dagher.
Harris has been reaching out to Muslims through meetings and virtual events, such as one organized by Emgage Action, another Muslim-American advocacy group that recently endorsed her. “We knew when we made the decision that we made that it would not be a popular decision,” Mohamed Gula, Emgage’s national organizing director, told NBC News.
He added, “We’re still struggling with it with every conversation we have, with every text, with every door, with every call, with everything.”
Harris has particularly struggled when it comes to Muslim and Arab voters in battleground states like Michigan, which have large Muslim populations.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, has also worked to bridge the gap. He recently addressed a Democratic Muslim voter group and expressed sympathy for their concerns. “I know the pain of this community is deep. Our hearts are broken,” Walz said during a virtual event.
The governor vowed that a Harris-Walz administration would pursue a ceasefire in Gaza and ensure that Palestinians can retain “dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”
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Nevertheless, many Muslim and Arab voters remain unconvinced. Some have even considered third-party candidates like Cornel West or Jill Stein, according to NBC News. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has tried to rehabilitate Harris’ image with Muslim voters. “Kamala Harris is not the president of the United States. She cannot decide for President Biden,” he said.
Muslim voters could become a key voting block in the upcoming election – especially in battleground states. If Harris is unable to persuade enough Muslims to vote for her in these states, it could give former President Donald Trump the edge he needs to defeat the vice president.