‘Abandon Biden’ activists disagree over whether to consider supporting Trump

Rabiul Chowdhury, 28, has been talking to voters for months about why they should punish President Joe Biden for his support of Israel in its war against Hamas, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians. Then, last week, the former Biden voter found himself at the opening of former president Donald Trump’s first Philadelphia campaign office.

Chowdhury, an engineer by day, co-chairs the Abandon Biden movement — a national group of Muslim activists and allies — in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and co-chairs the group’s candidate selection committee.

“This guy Biden hasn’t done anything for us despite all this uncommitted momentum,” Chowdhury said. “He doesn’t care. So we might as well try and see what we can secure under the next administration. … I see people feel more optimistic under [Trump] compared to Biden.”

Leading up to the state primary elections, Abandon Biden encouraged voters to signal their opposition to Biden by voting uncommitted or writing in their vote.

The work done by the group and other activists paid off for them in the Philadelphia region; more than 40,000 people cast the uncommitted “Justice for Palestine. Permanent Ceasefire Now.” protest vote in New Jersey last week, and a high number of write-ins signaled success for the movement in Pennsylvania, though the specifics are unknown because the state doesn’t have an uncommitted option on the ballot.

Across the country tens of thousands of voters cast uncommitted protest votes against Biden, with some states gaining enough support to secure uncommitted delegates. More than 100,000 people voted uncommitted in the Democratic primary in Michigan, a swing state with a substantial Muslim voting bloc, where Abandon Biden initially launched in December.

» READ MORE: These Muslim activists in Pennsylvania want to ‘abandon Biden’ over Gaza

Now the movement is at a crossroads as its leaders decide what their goal is for November beyond making Biden a one-term president. The group is figuring out whether to endorse a third-party candidate, but it’s leaning toward not endorsing anyone, according to Hudhayfah Ahmad, a national spokesperson for Abandon Biden.

“The message is going to be, vote conscience, not compromise,” he said.

While Chowdhury believes that some Muslim activists are warming up to the idea of supporting Trump, the national movement has drawn a clear line separating itself from the former president.

“We will never entertain a Trump endorsement, ever,” Ahmad said. “We have red lines. We’re going to stick with our red lines. That’s one of them.”

Khalid Turaani, 58, an Abandon Biden cofounder and cochair of its Michigan chapter, was also aghast at the idea of a Trump endorsement. Instead, Turaani believes the campaign should either encourage people to just vote the bottom of the ticket, or endorse either Jill Stein or Cornel West.

“We have seen what Trump has done and how dangerous he is not only for Palestinians, but really for America,” Turaani said. “We’re not going to endorse him. It would be so convenient for us … but on the principle of the matter we’re not going to do that because we don’t believe Trump is going to be any better of a candidate.”

A New York Times/Siena College poll conducted from April 28-May 9 found that that 50% of registered voters in six swing states said they’d trust Trump to do a better job on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with 35% saying the same about Biden.

But that poll also found that 41% of respondents sympathized more with Israel, compared to 22% with Palestinians. And while just 2% of registered voters in these states listed the Middle East/Israel/Palestinians as the most important issue in deciding their vote in November, around 13% of voters who said they voted for Biden last time but don’t plan to do so again said that his foreign policy or the war in Gaza was the most important issue for their decision, the New York Times reported.

But views on Biden’s handling of the war could soon change. On May 31, the president announced a cease-fire plan aimed at ending the war, which the United Nations Security Council approved on Monday.

Earlier this year when asked about protests, Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said the president “is approaching the situation in the Middle East not through the lens of politics but as the commander in chief of this country prioritizing American security and global security.”

But from Chowdhury’s perspective, a few recent moments that surfaced online weighs in Trump’s favor for Muslim Americans.

In one video with 158,000 likes on Instagram, Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov — a celebrity Muslim Russian and UFC fighter — was seen briefly speaking to and shaking hands with Trump. According to the user who posted the video, the UFC champion told Trump he knows the former president will end the war. Another video that showed Trump embracing his supporters chanting “Genocide Joe” at a rally indicated to Chowdhury that the former president doesn’t approve of the Palestinian death toll.

» READ MORE: Some young Pa. voters can’t bring themselves to vote for Biden this year over the war in Gaza

Chowdhury also believes that Muslim voters could find common ground with Trump’s “America first” philosophy, but acknowledged there are various issues he’d want to press Trump on.

“It would be a malpractice for us if we did not go to him and talk about what he has to offer,” Chowdhury said.

Trump would have two undeniable hurdles in gaining support from activists in the movement. The former president has exhibited hostility toward foreign Muslims over the years, and he’s been an outspoken supporter of Israel.

During his 2015 presidential campaign, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” and as president, he implemented a travel ban from countries that are majority Muslim.

“We have not forgotten 2016, and all the rhetoric that led up to 2016,” Ahmad said when speaking about the group opposing Trump.

In the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year, Trump vowed to expand the measure and bar refugees from Gaza if he’s reelected.

Trump grew critical of Israel in recent months, saying in March and April that Israel should end the war and stop killing people. He also criticized the country’s public relations strategy surrounding the war.

But it was all tough love, because Trump was clear in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday that he believes Israel has “got to win.”

“Israel has to finish that job,” Trump said. “They have to finish it quickly, strongly, and they have to get back to life again.”

In an April Time magazine interview, Trump vowed to “protect Israel,” and he just last month told Jewish donors behind closed doors that he supports Israel’s right to proceed with “its war on terror,” and that he would deport pro-Palestinian student protesters, according to the Washington Post. Trump has also criticized Biden for not supporting Israel enough, even though the current president has sent billions in aid to the Middle East ally.