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By Andrew Stanton
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Donald Trump is gaining ground with Muslim and Arab voters as frustration is growing with President Joe Biden over the Israel/Hamas war, according to a new poll.
Biden's response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas has drawn a backlash from many Muslim and Arab voters who supported his campaign in 2020. Biden is a staunch supporter of Israel who said it has the right to defend itself following the Hamas attack on the country last October. The assault killed 1,200 people, and 250 hostages were taken.
In recent months, Biden has become increasingly critical of Israel's offensive in Gaza amid mounting humanitarian concerns about the Palestinian civilians there. Israel's offensive has killed more than 34,800 Palestinians in Gaza, the Associated Press reports, citing the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 80 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced in the conflict.
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A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday delivered potentially troubling news for the president, as Trump led in nearly every one of the six battleground states he lost to the president in 2020.
The survey found Trump leading among registered Middle Eastern, North African or Muslim voters in the swing states, with 57 percent saying they were planning to back him in November. Only 25 percent said they were supporting Biden.
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However, Biden still held a lead over those voters who participated in the 2020 election, winning them 56 to 35 percent. This suggests that Trump could either be winning over less-engaged voters who did not vote in 2020 or that many of his supporters in that community are planning to vote for the first time.
About 70 percent of Muslim or Arab voters who are not planning to vote for Biden pointed to either foreign policy or the Gaza conflict as their reason for not supporting him, according to the survey*.*
The poll surveyed 4,097 registered voters from April 28 to May 9. Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Biden campaigns for comment via email.
Among registered voters, Trump held a lead in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, while Biden led in Wisconsin. However, among likely voters, Biden held a lead in Michigan while Trump led in Wisconsin, according to the poll.
The 2020 election was decided by razor-thin margins in these six states. Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin were decided by less than a single percentage point, while the results in Nevada and Pennsylvania were within 3 points.
The poll is the latest warning sign for Biden about his support among Muslim voters. For instance, some polls have found Biden struggling in Michigan, home to a sizable Muslim population in Dearborn, even though the state had his strongest showing among battleground states in 2020. Biden won there by 3 points.
Some Muslim community leaders have refused to support Biden's campaign because of his response to the situation in Gaza. Meanwhile, some Muslim voters have been shifting toward the GOP over issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
While Biden's stance on Israel has been a serious problem for many Arab and Muslim voters, Trump is also deeply pro-Israel. He has gone further than Biden in his rebukes of pro-Palestinian protests at colleges, calling for student protesters to be thrown off campus.
Trump has also criticized Biden for saying he will not provide Israel weapons for a military operation in Rafah, a border city between Gaza and Egypt that has been used as a humanitarian corridor for civilians. Israel believes this operation is necessary to defeat Hamas, but critics have raised concerns about the toll it will take on civilians in the city.
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