Donald Trump is narrowly leading Kamala Harris among Arab Americans as the race for president of the United States enters the final stretch, a new poll suggests.
The latest sign that the war in Gaza is costing Democrats support among voters with outsized influence in a key battleground state.
Trump leads Harris 45 percent to 43 percent among the key demographic with two weeks to go until voters choose the next US president, according to the Arab News/YouGov poll released on Monday.
The Republican candidate is also seen as more likely to successfully resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, leading his Democratic rival 39 percent to 33 percent on the question, according to the poll.
Trump and Harris are tied at 38 percent on the question of who would be better for the Middle East “in general”.
Asked which issues were the biggest concern to the Arab-American community, 29 percent of respondents chose the Israel-Palestine conflict, ahead of 21 percent who picked the economy and the cost of living and 13 percent who chose racism and discrimination.
Despite the edge for Trump, the former president is also seen as more supportive of Israel’s current government than his Democratic rival by a six-point margin, according to the poll.
Most of the results, based on a sample of 500 Arab Americans, are within the margin of error of plus or minus 5.93 percent.
The poll is the latest warning to Democrats that President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza could be putting his vice president’s election hopes in jeopardy ahead of the November 5 vote.
