The Cost of Drowning Out Dissent: Why Arab Voters Turned Away from Kamala Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris rallies voters in Michigan. Source: CBS News
"I am speaking now," was Vice President Kamala Harris's response to chants from pro-Palestinian protestors at a Michigan rally back in August. After being confronted with chants of “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” rather than addressing their call for a ceasefire, Harris responded with an ultimatum: “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.” The crowd then erupted in chants of “Kamala! Kamala!” drowning out the protesters’ demands as they were escorted from the rally.
This moment marked a flashpoint in the increasingly fragile relationship between Arab American voters and the Democratic Party and foreshadowed a key factor in Vice President Harris’s loss in the 2024 presidential election.
Liberals widely lauded Harris’ “I’m speaking” as a testament to her oratory strength, with some likening it to her 2020 debate retort to then-Vice President Mike Pence: "Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking." But the half dozen protestors silenced at that rally represent a larger community of Arab and Muslim constituents in the U.S. that feels increasingly overlooked and disregarded by the Democratic Party. The moment when their calls for a ceasefire were ignored for a soundbite underlines the sentiment of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans: that their voices and concerns are too often pushed aside.
Analysis by The Guardian of raw vote data from Michigan’s swing regions, home to large Arab American and Muslim communities, shows Harris received 22,000 fewer votes than Joe Biden in 2020. In Dearborn, a Detroit suburb where Arab Americans make up nearly 60% of the population, Biden received around 31,000 votes in 2020, compared to Harris’s 15,000. Trump, who campaigned in Dearborn shortly before the election, increased his vote count from 13,000 in 2020 to 18,000 in 2024. Further analysis by the Council on American Islamic Relations, based on national exit polls, found that 53% of Muslim American voters backed Jill Stein, 21% voted for Trump, and only 20.3% cast their vote for Harris.
This trend of alienating Arab American voters in the Democratic Party isn’t new; it’s part of a broader pattern. Vox correspondent Abdallah Fayyad highlights instances in this history: In 1984, Walter Mondale returned contributions from Arab American donors, citing a policy against donations from the community. In 1988, Michael Dukakis declined an endorsement from an Arab American organization. Even former President Obama lost favor with many Arab Americans, despite initially securing their support, as he continued the War on Terror and allowed mass surveillance under the Patriot Act—a significant betrayal for a candidate who had run an anti-war campaign.
Both Democratic strategists and Arab American leaders have warned Harris’s campaign about the potential loss of voters due to the Biden administration's pro-Israel stance and Harris’s failure to address the issue adequately. While Harris has directly addressed protesters in the past, stating, “I have been clear: now is the time to get a ceasefire deal and get the hostage deal done,” her actions have appeared inconsistent. Despite advocating for a ceasefire, her administration continues to send military aid to Israel, which contradicts this stance. Further adding to this inconsistency, Harris typically opts to wax poetic about the loss of human life while still espousing “Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Given that securing the "Blue Wall" states—Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—was critical for her White House bid, addressing the concerns of these key constituents could have been pivotal. Instead of focusing on the concerns of these key states, Harris focused on a defensive campaign that centered on preventing a Trump presidency, embraced a 'diet conservatism' approach, and even campaigned with figures like Liz Cheney, resulting in a campaign that ultimately lost every swing state.
Harris’s decision to campaign with Liz Cheney, along with her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, backfired among many Arab American and Muslim voters, who hold deep-seated resentment toward Dick Cheney for his role as the architect of the Iraq War and the Bush administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East. On election night, Georgia State Representative Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian Democrat, called Harris’s alignment with Cheney “a mistake,” emphasizing that figures like Cheney and former Georgia GOP Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan were “never going” to bring in significant votes.
“Prioritizing billionaires and Republicans instead of progressive organizations who do deep organizing work was a huge mistake,” Romman stated on social media, stressing that progressive groups are the ones actively pushing back against right-wing misinformation. "Instead they were iced out and maligned. This was supposed to be a historic moment but many tonight are reeling and terrified of what comes next. All of us lose tonight. All of us.”
Also on the Harris campaign trail, former President Bill Clinton faced backlash during a Michigan visit for suggesting that Hamas “forced” Israel into a position where civilian casualties were inevitable. Clinton claimed that while violence in Gaza was concerning, Israel had “little choice.” His statement struck an especially sour chord given the International Court of Justice’s July 19th ruling that Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful, along with its settlement policies, annexation efforts, and exploitation of natural resources. Clinton’s words—“Hamas makes sure they’re shielded. They’ll force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself”—deeply upset Arab American leaders who largely called these remarks "insulting" and "Islamophobic."
One of these critics was Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who represents the first Arab-majority city in the U.S., shared his frustration with statements from Democratic leaders.
“When you see remarks by former President Clinton talking about how Israel is forced to kill civilians, it gets extremely frustrating,” Hammoud told Al Jazeera. He also expressed discontent with prominent Republicans like Liz Cheney campaigning for Harris, questioning whether this could genuinely resonate with the community.
The Uncommitted Movement, led by Layla Elabed, has been vocal in its criticism of Vice President Harris, arguing that her actions repeatedly demonstrate a lack of interest in earning the Arab and Muslim vote. Formed during the Democratic primary to push back against Biden’s unwavering support for Israel, the movement seeks to represent disillusioned voters, particularly from Arab and Muslim communities.
Harris declined a request for a meeting with Palestinian families from the Uncommitted Movement, following the DNC’s denial of their demand for a Palestinian speaker. As all of the movement's demands were disregarded, even after they were reduced to a simple request for a meeting with the Vice President, this further fueled feelings among Arab constituents of being overlooked and ignored by the Democratic establishment.
Elabed emphasized in an interview with Al Jazeera: “Vice President Harris has shown over and over again that she actually doesn’t want our vote.”
Arab American voters have been forced into an impossible situation. For Vice President Harris, invoking the horrors of a potential Trump presidency cannot mask the real, ongoing tragedies many of her Arab and Muslim constituents are already experiencing. For the Palestinian community, the conflict in Gaza has taken more than 43,000 lives, including over 16,000 children. Thousands remain buried under rubble, vulnerable to disease and starvation, with no end in sight. As Israel expands its offensive and violence spreads to Lebanon, Syria and Iran, Harris’s dismissal of Arab American concerns in a soundbite moment could have lasting repercussions on the Democratic Party’s relationship with this community.
For these voters, Harris’s rally retort was not a triumph but a reminder that, for the Democratic Party, their voices remain an afterthought.