Vice President Kamala Harris met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, as her presidential campaign seeks to court voters angry at the White House's support for Israel as it continues its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The Vice President's meeting is an important step in strengthening her administration's relationships with Muslim and Arab voters, who resoundingly backed Joe Biden in 2020. But concerns over the war in the Middle East could impact votes for Vice President Harris in numbers that could cost her the key state of Michigan, which has one of the largest Arab American populations in the country.
According to a Harris/Walz campaign official, the Vice President expressed her concerns over the scale of human suffering in Gaza, civilian casualties, and displacement in Lebanon. Vice President Harris also discussed efforts to end the war, as well as efforts to prevent a regional war, the official said.
Wa'el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage Action--which recently endorsed Vice President Harris--said participants at the meeting shared their deep disappointment with the American handling of the crisis in the Middle East and called on her to do everything in her power to both end the war and reset U.S. policy in the region.
"Emgage Action asked Vice President Harris to impress upon President Biden the urgency of bringing an immediate end to the violence" in Gaza and Lebanon, Alzayat told Reuters. "She agrees that this war needs to end."
Vice President Harris followed the meeting with a campaign rally in Flint.